Paula - My kids have more friends now

Paula’s partner Dave had recently died after a long illness. Her family had become isolated and Paula had struggled to support her two children emotionally.

When she was referred to a family support service, Paula could see that her children didn’t mix with their peers, but couldn’t work out what to do about it. As Jo, the family support worker, got to know the children, they told her about two things that made them feel really different. All their clothes had been bought from the local second hand shops, and they didn’t have proper school uniforms. They also felt left out because they weren’t playing sport like a lot of the other local children.

Jo helped Paula make a plan for her annual Family Assistance Supplement so that the children could get some new clothes. They also worked out how much it would cost for the children to play one sport each, and Paula started saving over the year so that they could do this.