Speaking recently to an audience gathered for the launch of the Family Well-Being Break model for group holidays, Janet Reed* admitted that two years ago she would never have had the confidence to do this. Back in 2002, Reed, was a 34-year-old single mum with a long history of depression, going through a "horrible divorce". She was surviving on benefits and living in bad housing in Southwark with no outdoor space. So she was taken aback when her Home-Start volunteer put her name forward for the first Family Breaks holiday.(1)
She and her two-year-old daughter spent six days in the Dorset countryside with 12 families from similar circumstances, her first holiday in five years. The break provided an opportunity to rest, reflect and try out new experiences, supported by a team of professional facilitators, crche workers, therapists and counsellors, while having fun. Reed sees it as a turning point in her life.
the forum that Reed addressed earlier this year marked the conclusion of the two-year Family Breaks pilot project, supported by a £180,000 grant from the Community Fund. The award was made to the Family Holiday Association, a national charity dedicated to helping disadvantaged children and their families have holidays. For the pilot project, FHA worked in partnership with holiday provider Veritas with referrals coming from nine Home-Start projects in London and south east England, and Greenwich Women's Aid. The goal of the project was to contribute to preventing the social exclusion of families. More specifically, the programme aimed to: strengthen the ability of families to cope with their difficulties; strengthen their capacity to contribute to their community; and develop a model of holiday provision to families under stress that can be replicated in other areas of the UK.
Up to one-third of British families have no annual holiday.(2) So this concept of a "holistic" holiday takes the notion of a family holiday one step further, adding an intensive level of support, placing it firmly within the remit of the social care agenda. It offers an innovative way of supporting vulnerable families. Researchers from the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education were appointed to evaluate the pilot project, to explore how the process worked and identify the benefits families and children derived from it.(3)
In the pilot project, 122 families participated in 11 Family Breaks holidays. Home-Start was selected as the referral agent because of its ability to provide continuity of support before and after the holiday. Greenwich Women's Aid was included to test how the programme worked with families with various problems.
Families on low income or benefits who had not had a recent family holiday, with at least one child aged over three, were eligible. Referrals were directed to families living in stressful circumstances, or with multiple difficulties in their lives, such as disability, single parenthood, bereavement, or poor housing. Given the nature of the holiday, referrers sought families who might be open to new experiences, who were willing to accept guidance from the holiday team, and were happy to spend time away with other families.
Visiting a Family Breaks holiday, one is immediately struck by the cohesiveness of the group. Staff, parents and children help each other like one enormous family. There is a lot of noise and laughter, and on occasions crying.
The day starts with a group meeting, accompanied by drumming and singing, after which everyone disperses to their chosen activities. There is a crche for the younger children, and a programme of creative pursuits for older children. On recent holidays, one of the most popular exercises was to devise a show to perform for the elderly residents of a nearby nursing home.
Parents are free to choose their own programme from several options, including massage, reflexology, art and music, counselling, group work and parenting skills workshops. If they prefer, they can simply relax or talk.
Taking such vulnerable families away is not without risk. It requires a high level of skill on the staff's part. That the families so quickly feel able to trust the professional staff, and gain confidence to try out new things is a tribute to the Veritas team.
Families were very satisfied with the holiday, and many experienced longer term positive outcomes. Some of the key benefits identified were:
Families thoroughly enjoyed many of the activities and therapies on offer during the holiday, even though at the outset many thought some were a bit "weird". Many families wanted to continue with them when they returned home, but opportunities to do so are limited.
Reed took a loan to finance a course in relaxation techniques. For the first time since her teens, Reed has weaned herself off medication, and though she still has "bad moments" feels in control. She volunteers at her daughter's nursery school, and works as a part-time gardener, an interest which developed out of her introduction to herbalism on the holiday.
Teaching parents (and children) skills such as massage to practice on each other has helped some families continue the experience. There is potential to extend such activities outside the holiday setting. Baby massage is already offered by some Sure Start projects, and is supported by the government as a "promising intervention."(4) Schemes such as Home-Start or Sure Start could include similar therapies for adults within their programmes at a reasonably modest cost, relative to the cost of health service treatment or social services support. Evidence from Family Breaks suggests that this could prove to be very beneficial for families suffering from stress.
Perhaps the most challenging part of the pilot project has been filling the available spaces with families whose needs warrant the added support. Reed is unequivocal in her view that she could not have coped with a conventional holiday two years ago because she was so vulnerable. She also says that when she went home, nothing had changed. As she says: "Six days is quite short to shrug off years of problems. I realised I would not sort it all out in six months or in a year, but I made a mental list of what I had to do to change my situation, and it is all now in place."
Holidays as part of social care provision in the UK have tended to be reserved for individuals with specific needs, such as disabled or older people, rather than for families on low incomes. Even if conventional holidays were accepted as part of a social care policy, an argument must still be made to justify the added cost of a supported holiday.
FHA would like this type of holiday to be available for low income families as one of a range of options, offered according to need. Drawing on the experience of the pilot project, FHA has now developed the Family Well-Being Break model for similar group holiday partnerships. It has prepared an information sheet outlining the requisites for setting up a programme, and offers support to groups aiming to replicate the model.
* Not her real name.
Valerie Wigfall is a research officer at the Thomas Coram
Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. She
specialises in research into families and children, and is
currently working on Department of Health-funded projects looking
at fostering in Europe and services for young people leaving
care.
ABSTRACT:
This article looks at the concept of supported holidays for families in need. It draws on the findings of an evaluation of the Family Breaks pilot project for the Family Holiday Association, a national charity. The research found families were positive about the holiday experience. Many derived long-term benefits from the holiday in their ability to cope with difficulties and take control of their lives, helping them work toward positive change.
REFERENCES:
FURTHER INFORMATION:
CONTACT THE AUTHOR:
Email: v.wigfall@ioe.ac.uk or phone 020 7612 6815
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