When bringing up young children some parents are fortunate to have family and friends close by to help. However, many families have no one local to turn to.

By a volunteer helping for a couple of hours each week, Family Friends aims to prevent short-term difficulties from becoming serious long-term problems.

The volunteer will be a friend who will visit your in your own home. They will be someone to talk to, someone who may help you with the children or look after them while you take a short break. In an emergency we may be able to help out with a little light housework or cooking. Our volunteers are not professional experts.

We help families from all walks of life who are experiencing short term difficulties such as:

Illness
Hannah has MS. She has a three year old son and her husband is a full time student. Her mobility is becoming increasingly difficult. Our volunteer befriended her and helped her to play with her son.

Isolation
Shameen was a journalist who had built a successful career before having her first baby. She missed her friends at work and didn't know anyone else who lived in Ascot. Our volunteer visited Shameen and helped her to get to know the area.

Support is given to families throughout the Royal Borough who have a child up to the age of eleven or younger. If you would like to know more about the families we help click here.

Our volunteers:

• understand the stresses of bringing up children;
• receive thorough training;
• are understanding listeners;
• relate well to children
• respect the confidentiality of the families with whom they work;
• are checked by the Criminal Records Bureau;.

We work to these service standards.
For more information on making referrals, click here.