Flourishing Families Leeds is a growing charity dedicated to bringing down the barriers which hinder people from flourishing. Our vision is to see children growing in confidence and fulfilling their potential, parents and carers well supported and whole families equipped to connect well with each other and the community.
Flourishing Families
About
Flourishing Families works in areas of the city ranked amongst the most deprived 1% to 5% nationally. We partner with local primary schools, Social Care and other organisations that help us focus on supporting those most at risk from inter-generational poverty and social isolation. Our activities include:
- Addressing the challenge of food poverty, poor nutrition and childhood obesity by running family cookery clubs.
- Taking on the challenge of low literacy levels through our Story Tellers Clubs, where parents, carers and children learn together.
- Helping tackle the challenges faced by primary school-aged children of invisible barriers to educational engagement, such as low confidence, through activity-based mentoring.
- Improving low levels of financial literacy through an engaging programme of financial mentoring.
- Overcoming social isolation through our English Language Classes and Language Exchange Café.
- Supporting parents, carers and families through our Art and Soul Parenting groups and Creators’ Clubs.
- Co-ordinating all the above activities into tailor-made holistic solutions for individual families.
What's Next
Our projects are invariably based on simple ideas, such as having children to cook alongside parents/carers to encourage healthy eating, or enabling parents to learn to read alongside their children, thus avoiding embarrassment. This simplicity is key to our lasting success. The next stage of our development will see Flourishing Families spread across the city of Leeds, impacting the lives of more and more families living in poverty. We remain passionate about helping children and families overcome challenges, painting a brighter horizon for their futures together.
The Worshipful Company of Weavers began supporting us shortly after our launch when we were a fledgling charity with one part-time member of staff, a handful of volunteers and three pilot projects. This support was a catalyst for rapid growth and, after 3 years, we were working directly with over 550 people every year, across more than 40 projects with 3 members of staff and an army of volunteers. - Richard Colbrook - Chair of Trustees
