Advice and support for families in Edinburgh
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Are you worrying about money, housing or benefits?
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Needing some parenting advice or support?
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Struggling with school?
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Looking for some help to strengthen family relationships?
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Are you looking to move into employment or further education?
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Are you worrying about family relationships or wellbeing?
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Do you live in Edinburgh and have a child aged five or under or, come from an ethnically diverse community?
For families with children aged five or under
We know how challenging family life can be and we offer guidance where you need it the most to make sure your whole family feel supported, and your children are healthy, happy and safe.
We will meet with you and your children at home to listen and work with you to create the support you would like.
To get support, please email: maximise@children1st.org.uk or call us on 0131 446 2300.
The sort of support we offer can include:
Family Support
Our professional team can help you with support and advice to ensure things get better for you and your children. We can help with a number of issues such as building better family relationships, learning to play, working with Dads, supporting you with your child’s attendance at school/ nursery or offering help with morning and bedtime routines.
Support from Volunteers
Our team of trained adult volunteers can offer consistent, regular support to members of your family who may need it. Your volunteer can help family members to build confidence and self-esteem, help with those tasks that you find challenging, be an extra pair of hands to support quality family time or be a listening ear when needed.
Welfare Advice
We can provide confidential support if you are struggling with debts, energy bills, council tax arrears or need advice on bankruptcy or someone to negotiate with creditors on your behalf. We will also seek to maximise your income and ensure you are getting all benefits you are entitled to.
Interested in volunteering or training to update your skills? Perhaps you are looking to get back into work or considering new career options. We can offer flexible, tailored support to help you achieve your goal.
If you are looking for support and advice from somebody trusted about the everyday challenges of being a parent, we can help. Whether you're a single Dad, married, have a partner, or are with your children over the weekend, we can support you. We can talk through what you're going through, support your mental health and help you to become a more confident parent.
About Maximise! Edinburgh
Maximise! is a partnership between Children 1st and the Community Help & Advice Intitiative (CHAI).
Working with CHAI we can also offer additional support to families whose children attend Early Years Centres in: Craigmillar, Granton, Greendykes, Fort, Moffat, Calderglen, Hailesland, Gilmerton, Sighthill and Stenhouse with employability skills. We can also support Dads with children aged 0 to 5 to become a stronger role model for their children.
For families from ethnically diverse communities
- Support for the challenges of family life; including a range of practical help, advice and guidance to maintain family wellbeing.
- Support with benefits, housing and advice around income maximisation.
- Assistance with finding work, training or education and overcoming barriers to these.
- Support for young people (aged 8 – 26) to grow their opportunities through education, training, volunteering, and community work.
The sort of support we offer can include:
Family Support
Our team can help you with support and advice to ensure things get better for you and your children. We can help with a number of issues such as building better family relationships, improving things at school, your health and wellbeing, worries about money.
Support for Young People
If you are aged between eight and 26 the Whole Family Equality Project youth engagement officer can work with you individually to help you through education, employment, volunteering and training. They will help you develop your skills through mentoring, support and by connecting you with other young people with similar experiences
Employability Support
Our partners pRESPECT and LinkNet can help you to work towards your work and career goals and aspirations. They are experienced in supporting people from diverse communities in work, training and education, including in recognising, identifying and addressing the barriers to employment resulting from the entrenched nature of racial inequality.
About the Whole Family Equality Project
This support is offered as part of the Whole Family Equality Project, a partnership project led by Capital City Partnership together with Children 1st, CHAI, Passion4Fusion, and LinkNet Mentoring, Volunteering Matters and WFEP Youth Engagement for families from ethnically diverse communities. It is supported by a Citizens' Panel - a group of representatives from diverse ethnic communities across Edinburgh. The Panel is chaired by Viana Maya, CEO and Founder of pRESPECT. The knowledge and experience of the group is helping to shape the project as well as seeking to influence wider strategy around poverty and inequality in Edinburgh.
The project also invites those from ethnically diverse communities to collate and/or create ideas for small scale projects that will make a difference to their communities and address poverty and inequality through participatory budgeting. We are currently working with groups in Wester Hailes alongside Go Beyond and Score Scotland, and in Lochend, Craigentinny and Restalrig alongside The Ripple project.