Family Advocacy

Family support, parenting support, and family relationships mediation in Gloucestershire.

Our Family Support team provides a range of services to support children, young people and families when they are facing a crisis and have nobody else to turn to. We support people experiencing difficulty in coping with family life and social situations, frequently working in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies to co-ordinate and deliver a program of focused interventions. We are committed to a multi-disciplinary approach to provide an effective and focused client-led service.

CCP’s team of experienced family support staff provide intensive one-to-one support to families in their own homes. Our support workers can help the family by developing parenting strategies, household routines, behavioural strategies and family-oriented activities, as well as liaising with other agencies to provide a personalised package of on-going support. We also offer parenting courses and family relationships mediation.

The Gloucestershire Reaching Families Service is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

Unresolved conflict between parents and teenage children can lead to young people becoming homeless. It can have a lasting harmful effect on the emotional and mental health of those involved. Family Mediation is a free conflict resolution service that brings together young people aged 11-18 with their parents or carers. Family Mediation aims to help family members communicate in a structured, safe and confidential environment, supervised by qualified Mediators, in order to discuss and resolve difficult family issues.

Anyone who is experiencing difficulty getting on with their child or parent could potentially benefit from mediation, but it is particularly effective in situations where:

We can visit families in their home or arrange for a mediation session to take place in a neutral location. We create a safe and confidential environment for families experiencing conflict to explore difficult issues and come to an agreement on how to move forward.First, we meet with family members individually to try and understand their stories better. Then, we invite family members to a face-to-face session. This is their chance to get their point of view across in a structured, non threatening environment. Finally, an agreement is formed between them representing what they need from each other in order to move forward and achieve a happier home life. The family is offered 3 months further support to help ensure the agreement lasts.

Most mediation sessions are carried out over two days, with the individual sessions (lasting approximately an hour and a half) on one day and the face to face (between 2-4 hours) on the other. Families have full involvement in creating any support plan offered by the service prior to the mediation.

CCP is a member of the UK Register of Mediators. We have a qualified and experienced staff team with a history of working with vulnerable families and young people. Throughout the mediation we remain impartial and respect everyone’s confidentiality. We have no legal powers and we won’t force anyone to agree to anything they are not happy with. We simply organise the sessions, make sure that everyone taking part is prepared and manage the face-to-face meeting to ensure it remains constructive.