Sheltering Families Through Stormy Times

Families in our community are suffering in silence with nowhere to turn for assistance.

Since its establishment in 2002, The Jewish Family Centre has empowered families by offering culturally sensitive, accredited support services that can be accessed in a dignified, confidential and safe manner.

You are probably aware of some of the lovely family activities that we offer at our centre – stay and play, pottery painting and pre-yom tov fun days to name a few. But you might not know about some of our other, vital services - from family support, therapy and parenting coaching, to counselling, social services and advocacy signposting.

Every single person that accesses our services is treated with confidentiality, care and respect and no-one will ever know whether you are walking through our doors as mum looking for a play day activity for her toddler, or as someone coming for lifesaving therapy. That’s the beauty of the Jewish Family Centre.

Our goal is to empower families, parents and children by providing them with a safe space, and the skills and support that they need not only to survive, but to thrive.

Over the past 12 months, on a shoestring budget of just under £300,000 a year, we have managed to support over 300 families, encompassing over 5500 hours of professional advice, social advocacy, skills coaching and more – and that’s before we even begin to tally up the innumerable hours of emotional support.

But now, we cannot go on without your help. The world in 2023 is very different to what it was just a few short years ago. Problems that were mainly manageable before the Covid pandemic are now spiralling out of control and the cost of living crisis has only exacerbated the situation. Marital disharmony, mental health issues, financial instability… we are only just beginning to see the real impact of the last few years.

Additionally, as a direct result of other charities and services closing their doors due to tightening guidelines and budgets, the demand for our services has multiplied dramatically. Our caseload has become unmanageable, given the limited budget  and resources we are operating on.

For the sake of the families who are relying on us, it’s critical that we reach our fundraising goal of £250,000, so that we can continue our vital work in the community. As of now, we’ve had to limit our support services to many families turning to us for help and we have a waiting list. But we need to ensure that no family is turned away.