FAMILIES MATTER AT HYTHE URC
Chairman’s Report 2010
A reminder that this is our church community project
Families Matter has now been in existence for more than twelve years and has been seeking to fulfill its Mission Statement of “Giving caring support in the community”. This is primarily done through providing caring support for families to prevent youth offending and the breakdown of family life. We continue to respond to identified needs, offering life skills, education and support and to meet the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of children, young people and families.
It is good that Families Matter is now treated as a Ministry Team in our revised structure – this should encourage more integration, communication and potential support by church members.
We are thankful for the funding we have received from various sources, especially from the Tudor Trust and the Childrens fund and our current funding guarantees the services we offer for the next 18months or so.
During this year we have re-appointed Sharon Ellery as Project Development Manager to oversee this part of our work until our AGM in July 2010. Funding at this present time does not allow us to employ an additional person at this time.
One of our Trustees, Stephanie James-Brown, in consultation with other project workers, has begun the task of updating our evaluation process. Our aim is to move toward a consistent evaluation process using measurable outcomes across all our work. This work is progressing but is not yet complete. Our Oasis Student Oli Barker has participated in one of our groups the 3C’s which has been good for all concerned
‘Our Time’, a relatively new and confidential work with families dealing with addiction has steadily grown. It is led by a small group on behalf of 3 local churches and we provide some support and encouragement.
Within Families Matter there are currently about 15 different pieces work being undertaken and the complete current work of the project is listed in a project booklet which is available on request
We are developing a list of potential new work, some of which need not require great funding. Please read this list and ask whether it might be an issue that you might be able to offer some help with. It is hoped that we can get something started with some of these but it will require voluntary help from people from within the church.
- Grandparents Support group
- Healthy eating group
- Money Course (Christians against poverty)
- Support group for infertile/childless couples undergoing IVF etc.
- Bereavement support
- Contact centre hosting
- Domestic reconciliation hosting
- Support group for parents whose young people have mental health issues.
- Postnatal depression support group
And we are open to other ideas – perhaps you know of a need that we could address. The strength of Families Matter is our flexibility and ability to respond to needs which are not being met by other agencies.
Our priorities for the year ahead are:
- Sustain our Current services
- Commence 1 or 2 new services
- Strengthen the management team
Our thanks go to all those people who have played a part in the work this year. We thank you for your continued support as we seek to develop our work in this community in the year ahead. To all trustees, workers, supporters and funders of Families Matter a big thank you!
Eddie
Chairman of the Management Team/Trustees
