After nearly 6 years of delivering the accredited 13-week Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities** (SFSC) programme for Hard to Reach (H2R) parents and carers in Barnet, the Barnet Community Parenting Consortium (BCPC), led by CommUNITY Barnet, is looking forward to celebrating the successes of the graduates and their families in June to mark the end the project.

Who would have thought in March 2011, when 18 community workers and volunteers from 8 supplementary schools in Barnet put themselves forward to be trained up as facilitators of the SFSC parenting programme, that the Consortium (BCPC) would still be relevant in 2017.

The facilitator training for the voluntary and community sector was in direct response to the need for parents and carers from H2R communities across the borough to actively engage with available resources including schools and other statutory services to improve life outcomes their children, young people and families. Majority of families came from communities that speak English as an additional language who find themselves challenged by their socio-economic status, homelessness and low employment, resulting in social isolation, under achievement and low life expectancy.

Who are the Barnet Community Parenting Consortium (BCPC)?

The Consortium is made up of Aidexcel Support Services, Andisheh Persian School, FEAST, Livingway/Zone 7, Paiwand Afghan Association, Rustam Iranian School, Somali Family Support Group and Special Time Turkish School and Community Barnet. Its unique offer is the diversity of languages that programmes are delivered in. These include Albanian, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto, Somali and Turkish with support to Romanian and Tamil speakers as well as Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) community.

After a successful 16 month pilot delivering 11 programmes, which ended in March 2013 with 106 graduates, we were recommissioned in July 2013 by the London Borough of Barnet. In almost 4 years, with local authority funding coming to a close in March 2017, we have delivered another 20 programmes, seen 205 more parents and carers graduate from our programmes: speaking over 30 different community languages between them; reflecting the rich diversity of communities and languages in Barnet.

How have we achieved this?

The key to reaching all these families across Barnet and its boundaries has been collaborative working. We have worked in partnership with over 20 schools and children centres; Barnet and Southgate College; Head teachers and Learning mentors network and other voluntary organisations working with families.

We have also worked with committed team of partner organisations and facilitators who have worked tireless during the programme delivery and between sessions to support, encourage and befriend parents building trust. The outcome was that most of our programme had a high attendance and retention rate. Volunteer interpreters and crèche workers meant our programmes were accessible to speakers of other minority languages and those with younger children.

Schools became more accessible to parents and so did their desire to access further education, ESOL classes, volunteering within school and the wider community. As a result of attending this programme, some have gone on to become parent governors, library volunteers, medical assistants and PTA representatives.

How have parents benefited?

What parents have valued the most is special time spent with their children, managing anger and learning patience. One parent said, ‘I have learnt the importance of having quality time for my children and myself…. I feel more confident to talk and share ideas with them.’ Another dad and lone parent said, ‘my ability to view things from my teenage daughter’s position and control myself has improved’. Zerryn made new friends and developed a strong sense of community cohesion. Through the confidence she gained she set up a confectionary business with other parents. She also found that this had a positive impact on her relationship with her children.

What have schools and professionals had to say?

‘This programme developed a sense of community and camaraderie among those who attend’ said a school’s pastoral lead. A large number of parents are single or isolated from the wider community bringing up children with limited support. Coming together brought down social barriers and increase awareness. Schools saw achievement of children improve as their parents learnt new skills and felt supported. The head teacher of a local school said, ‘this programme has led to improved community cohesion and commitment from our parents. This will result in better attainment and life chances for our children and their families.’ This programme is seen as unique as it delivers most programmes in mother tongue, retaining parents who would otherwise disengage from mainstream programme. This is what a Parent Support Practitioner from the Youth Offending Team had to say, ‘Most parents are reluctant to attend parenting programmes as a fear of feeling a failure; however after attending the induction session, they have come back with positive feedback and embraced the programme and its contents…. This is a very valid service in our community’.

The celebration in June will be a great occasion to bring all the families we have worked with, facilitators, professionals and all who have made this programme a success together. There will also be opportunity for graduates to find out about volunteering, business coaching and share their successes. Further information about this event will be circulated later.

To find out more, contact Zoe Kattah on 020 8364 8400 ext 216 or email zoe.kattah@communitybarnet.org.uk.

**SFSC is a culturally sensitive course that promotes protective factors associated with good parenting which include warm and close parent/child relationships; promoting self-discipline and self-esteem; as well as strategies for managing anger to ensure better outcomes for children. This programme also those who get involves develop the necessary skills and confidence to get involved in their children’s schools and local communities.