Pathfinder family support
Our support starts with the issues that matter to you and we stay involved for as long as you need us to.
We know that too often services will only deal with one issue at a time and/or offer something very specific that might not work for you, or only work in a short term way.
We prioritise the relationship with you, work on whatever issues are important for you and stick around. You can expect to have one worker and to get to know them.
“Pathfinder is completely different to other services they are on opposite side of the scale. Pathfinder is understanding, no judgement, solutions, patient, comforting and it has a home feel to it. I have worked with [other] services and I always felt like nothing was good enough and hounded. Pathfinder lets you come to them as and when you need them and they’re always there.”
Parent
Some things we’ve helped families with include small grants, housing issues, advocacy with children’s social care or other services, escaping domestic abuse, drug or alcohol use, mental health needs, getting benefits sorted out, activities and holidays and support around special educational needs (SEND) and housing/homelessness.
Sometimes its just about walking with you as another human being.
Who can receive Pathfinder family support?
If your children are at a school which is a member of the Pathfinder, you should be able to ask to see your Pathfinder worker. You can see the list of schools here.
Alternatively, you are welcome to email us at info@birminghampathfinder.org.uk
If we can’t help we’ll do our best to find someone who can.
What is ‘Shared Authority’?
Many of our families who’ve been with us for a while want to get more involved with our work, or start to work together to tackle a wider problem or issue that they care about.
Some people have set up coffee mornings or support groups, or have organised family fun days and other events. Some have started offering ‘Pathfinder pitch-ins’, where teams of Pathfinder parents get together to help someone out in the community.
Pathfinder parents have come together to share their views and insights with decision makers including the local MP, senior leaders from the local authority and further afield, and with journalists.
We call this our ‘shared authority’ work. For more information click here.
Additional resources
As part of our support, we can offer direct access to Birmingham CAB (we have two CAB workers in our team) and different types of counselling via Kapella and Spring to Life.
We can also organise donations of products from the West Midlands Multibank and The Hygiene Bank.
We offer training courses for parents.
Psychologically Informed Environments training is about creating environments that are emotionally healthy.
Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) training is a programme which supports parents to understand and respond to challenging behaviour from children and young people.
Often families who have done these courses together decide to set up a group to stay in touch and support each other.
If you are interested, please contact Arlene Hadley at the Pathfinder Office, or email us at info@birminghampathfinder.org.uk.
Our Testimonials
Kind words families and other stakeholders have said about us:
“What [he] has done is just been there as an emotional support, which is what I needed at the time whether I knew it or not.” – Mum
“[Mum] is starting to grow in confidence and is now beginning to see a future for herself in terms of a career and with her children. I’ve had to have some difficult conversations with mom but she has discussed very openly and worked through them with [PF Worker].” – Mum
“Pathfinder has the understanding that it wasn’t quite as simple as ‘just doing it’.” – Mum