WHO WE ARE
Our story
Yeovil4Family was initially a family support project set up in response to the fact that some families in our community are in need of additional support. Y4F was set up by churches in Yeovil who have a heart to see the tide of family breakdown turn in our town, to see children who are loved and cared for prosper and family relationships that are constructive instead of destructive and damaging.
Y4F is hosted by Yeovil Community Church, who in 2012 were awarded the contract to work alongside South Somerset Together, which is a partnership between the local council and key agencies to improve the quality of life in South Somerset. Our role was to deliver the ‘Family Focus’ support programme by providing Family Link Workers and Volunteer Family Mentors, (if appropriate) to work alongside isolated families in South Somerset and has worked with approximately 143 families up to end of April 2015. This work has seen Y4F play a key part in the local council’s response to the national government initiative to positively impact families with complex needs in Britain (the DCLG Troubled Families Agenda).
From 2015 we became independently funding and have extended our remit to work with people without children. In the last year we have also included a homeless outreach worker to engage with rough sleepers and people who are socially isolated.
Since the start of the programme we have supported more than a thousand clients in the SSDC community.
WHAT WE DO
Helping families to help themselves
Our volunteer Family Mentors provide one-to-one listening support in the home for one hour a week. We are here to ‘help families to help themselves’. To do this Mentors are trained to work with the family by listening to them in a non-judgemental way and helping them gain the support they need to make changes, find solutions to their challenges and bring new hope into their lives.
Our Mentors are supported by a team of Family Link Workers who are responsible for coordinating services between all the agencies involved, the mentor and most importantly the family themselves. It is our hope we can help be the families’ voice amongst the agencies so they can regain control over their own lives and feel empowered and equipped to move forward.
Yeovil4Family work with all types of clients regardless of faith, gender, race, disability, marital status, social class, age or sexual preference. All people come in different shapes and sizes, with different experiences, achievements and struggles.
VIDEOS
OUR TEAM
Team members
Vicki Pritchard – Joint Program Lead
Joella Summers – Joint Program Lead
Bridget Turner – Community Outreach Worker
Sue Pocock – Senior Resettlement Link Worker
Jess Fleetwood – Y4F Team Administrator
Catherine Bramley – Admin Support
Andrew Dunningham – Y4F Mentor Programme Administrator
Family Link Workers
- Anne Barclay
- Becca Crombie
- Esther Dobbs
- Lorrainne Gill
- Cath Hine
- Hannah Jeffery
- Ingrid Lucas
- Sarah Maunder
- Amy Merrett
- Jon Pugsley
- Gemma Roberts
- Joanne Triffitt
- Sue Whitlock
And our network of amazing Volunteers who help to provide our mentoring service…
GET INVOLVED
Become a Mentor
Do you have a heart to help people in need of support?
Could you spare a couple of hours a week?
Prayer Support
As we continue with this work we greatly appreciate the prayer support we receive. It is really encouraging to know that people in our town have a heart for the people who make up our community.
We would love for prayers to continue for:
