Dream Your Future Families – Small Good Stuff grant winner
Part of Community Catalysts’ ethos and social enterprise business model is to support the sector and reinvest back into the wider community. Earlier this year, Community Catalysts ran two grant programmes for our fantastic Small Good Stuff members who run tiny community enterprises, organisations and groups that offer help and care for others. In this ‘super story’ we find out more about our grant winner ‘Dream Your Future Families’ and how they used the money to provide more opportunities for the people they support….
Here at Dream Your Future Families, we believe that parents can function at their best when their own needs are met first. The Parent Space is a caring and empowering service that we had been unable to run since piloting it last year due to lack of funding. We used the grant to fund the next round of the Parent Space.
The Parent Space helps reduce loneliness and build connections. Participants meet virtually with other parents, make friends and form a community. It brings parents together and provides them with a safe space to talk and be listened to by their peers and by a trained facilitator. It enables parents to feel more connected, less isolated, and encourages them to build relationships with their peers.
“I liked having a regular slot in the week to look forward to connecting with people. Also, being listened to for ten minutes flat was very grounding. I felt I was able to finally drop some negative thoughts that had been playing on my mind for too long after speaking them out to a listening ear” Heidi– participant of previous session in June 2020
The impact of the increased sense of support and well-being positively impacts their ability to be a strong support to their families. Parent Space allows parents to take care of themselves so that their mental health and well-being remains healthy. In this next cohort, 6 clients will benefit directly from accessing this service, and evidence suggests that their families will also feel the benefit indirectly.
“The sessions were a chance to join with other women and just stop for an hour. Stop everything else going on and just be with these women to share, reflect, laugh and breathe! I found the session gave me tools to take into family life” Maddie – participant of previous session in June 2020
Through facilitation, parents are invited to reflect, identify and prioritise their own needs more readily, so that they can better look after their families. Engaging in dedicated listening and speaking activities empowers parents to state their needs more clearly. Working together in pairs and as a small group, relieves isolation and participants feel more connected to others.
“Our gathering has punctuated my week, a welcomed opportunity where I can share and process my busy week – the highs, the lows, the challenges and the joys – whatever I need to talk about – I know that there is someone who can listen without judgment” Katie – participant of previous session in June 2020
Meet all grant winners from our Small Good Stuff grant programme:
Meet all grant winners from The Buzz grant programme which helped community enterprises to create and share videos for our online platform of inclusive, exciting and accessible activities: