HeadlandFuture

Welcome

Headland Future is a Charity that changes lives by helping local people to care for themselves and those that depend on them. We are the major provider of fatherhood and family learning services in Hartlepool, and have run successful and high quality youth work and education support projects in Hartlepool for almost 10 years.

We believe that everyone has the potential to achieve, and to be happy. All people have the capacity to grow, develop and improve their own lives, no matter what their circumstances. Unfortunately, far too many people struggle to do this for a wide range of reasons, many of them, totally out of their control.

Headland Future seeks to empower the people it works with, whether a child, young person, parent or whole family, to understand and overcome the challenges they are faced with.

We understand that people develop and achieve their potential most, when they are respected, listened to and empowered to become person who decides to make positive changes in their own life - rather than the person someone else expects to change.

We achieve these changes through our main projects, which you can find out about on this website

Huge boost for separated families

Families struggling after parents′ part ways will receive more support thanks to a £460,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund′s Reaching Communities programme.

For some families, family breakdown can play a huge role in causing poverty and lowering school grades, as well as causing poor mental and physical health. For a minority of children, the separation of their parents can cause severe and sometime lifelong problems. Supporting parents and children to get through this difficult time can make a huge difference to the entire family.

This lottery funding, alongside investment from Hartlepool Borough Council, will allow the Family Separation Partnership to deliver a project, led by Headland Future, to offer families the right support at the right time. A new four-year project, named Communities Together for Separated Families, will be delivered through the Family Separation Partnership. A team of separation workers will offer practical and emotional support, with partner agencies offering children′s and couples counselling, debt advice, mediation, and family support and activities.

To ensure the project responds to community members needs, the project will train parent volunteers who will support other family members, and bring about lasting improvements in the way community and other organisations identify and support separated families.

Headland Future chief executive Graham Alton said: “We know that parents are often the best people to support each other, so this project will train parents to help other families in similar situations. It′s a really exciting opportunity for community members to take the lead in supporting each other.”

“We′ve provided youth and family support services in Hartlepool for over 13 years and through working with and consulting local parents and children we′ve built up a good picture of some of the extra support families need; we′re thrilled that this funding lets us meet the needs of the community more effectively.”

The award comes after a separate pilot project was run by the Family Separation Partnership, which includes Headland Future. An independent evaluation found that out of the different approaches to working with separated families tried nationally, the Hartlepool model worked best.

John Robinson, parenting commissioner with Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “This new project will make a big difference to the kind of support we can give to families during a very difficult time.”