Family Support Groups

Anchoring Minds is an emotional wellbeing service within Solent Mind providing support in the community to Royal Navy and Royal Marine families in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and the Isle of Wight, in partnership with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and Solent NHS Trust.

Boogie Mites Portsmouth offer educational music groups and sessions for Nurseries / preschools, parent and carers, parties and events. We also offer Intergenerational music sessions partnering nurseries/ preschools with local care homes and care homes with families.

All our sessions enhance learning, language and literacy skills and are in line with the EYFS.

Cafcass stands for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.
Cafcass represents children in family court cases in England.

Connors Toy Library provides 11 community based stay, play and toy loan sessions across the City. These are open to all parents, carers, childminders, foster carers and grandparents. Sessions are £3 per family and include a play session, craft activity, snack, toy loan and singing to finish. We provide early intervention to families that are struggling, either by providing advice, guidance, signposting or referral onto the appropriate service to gain in depth support.

Our outreach workers support hard to reach and vulnerable families that are referred to our service or self refer themselves. We are here for as long as the family need us and will visit a family within their own homes, in a quieter place or within one of our community based toy library sessions. Introducing them to other families to create friendships and integrating them into their local community.
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Our child carers Toy Store is based in Portsea and houses a vast array of toys and resources for families, foster carers, professionals, nurseries, schools, playschemes etc.. to borrow to ensure all children have access to good quality, educational and a variety of toys and resources to support learning and development. There is a small yearly membership cost starting at just £20 per year. Please visit www.cctoystore.org.uk for details.

Families with children with additional needs can access the Child carers toy store to borrow specialist toys and resources to support their child learning and development within their own homes. Membership is just £20 per year and families can borrow sensory, therapeuti and fun toys and resources. Toy store is open Tuesday and Thursday 9-3 and Friday morning 9-12.

List of Community based Toy Library sessions.
Monday -
Havelock Centre, Southsea, PO4 0LQ 9.30-11.30am
St Cuthberts Centre, Copnor, PO3 6EA, 9.15-11.15am
SEN session, Buckland Family Hub, Turner Road, PO1 4PN, 1.00-2.30pm (this group is for SEN children or those that struggle with a busy group)
Tuesday -
Eastney Community Centre, Bransbury Park, PO4 9JY,

Daybreak is the country’s leading national voluntary organisation focused entirely on the delivery of family group conferences (FGCs) and related training.
Age range for work in Portsmouth is 0-25 years
Daybreak has a contact with PCC covering referrals from them.
Other agencies and individuals can make a spot purchase
Daybreak supports families (not individuals)

Daybreak delivers programmes of the highest quality and aims for continuous service improvement, through:

- systematic monitoring and collection of feedback
- rigorous selection and training of staff, independent coordinators and volunteers
- inspiring individual and collective responsibility across the workforce

Our work is widely recognised as achieving great results for children, adults and their families whilst making significant cost savings for Local Authorities and other agencies.

Early years are a crucial period of development for children. The NHS Birth to Five Guide covers a wide range of topics, providing lots of important information and tools to help parents through the different stages of child development

The Forces Families Project

The Forces Families project (formerly Joining Forces for Families), an Armed Forces Covenant funded project that has been running since October 2018. It is delivered in partnership by Citizens Advice Hart, Rushmoor Citizens Advice and Portsmouth Citizens Advice. It aims to help serving personnel and their families when they encounter life's stressful events. It is free, confidential and independent and impartial. The Forces Families Project is tri-service and operated in North East Hampshire and Portsmouth and other south coast areas such as Gosport Fareham and Havant. We often attend military events such as health fairs, family fun days and of course Armed Forces day.

The Early Help and Prevention Service’s LGBTQ Team support young people who are exploring their gender identity/sexuality and their families. This team:

Offer support and guidance for professionals through the ‘Team Around the Worker’ model.

Liaise with schools and other agencies to ensure support for young people is effective.

Offer short one-to-one interventions for young people.

Offer young people access to weekly specialist youth groups (4U, 4Me).

Will run short interventions to support families with exploring issues alongside their young person.

The 4U, 4Me Youth Groups exist in the city to support children and young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender variant or who are questioning their gender identity or sexuality.

An experienced, skilled youth team offers a weekly youth group in a safe, secure and supportive environment. There are activities each week designed to help to improve self-esteem, give young people a social outlet in which to make new friends and to provide information to support them as they move into adulthood.

Our LGBTQIA+ inclusive Stay & Play Group for parents and children under the age of 5, every Friday afternoon at Northern Parade Family Hub.

This group will be a safe place for families and a chance to connect with families who share the experiences that come with parenting when part of the LGBTQIA+ community,

It will give children a chance to see versions of their own family reflected back at them. There are craft’s, play, messy play, stories and singing facilitated by our trained volunteers.

Services include:

Antenatal care
Postnatal care
Labour and birth care
Maternity theatres
Infant Feeding support
Parent education