Gateway Family Services
Changing Lives, Changing Services.
We work to improve health, develop skills and opportunities and fight inequalities. We change the way public services work.
5 reasons why people in Birmingham use our free food services
The free food that Gateway’s pregnancy outreach workers provide to some women has attracted a lot of attention in the press recently. It’s always something we’ve done as a matter of course. Part of the practical way we do our work.
It’s not a food bank in the sense you might imagine – stacks of tins in a warehouse. It’s actually a basket where our staff pop the odd tin or packet.
We are starting to find that food poverty in Birmingham has patterns.
Typically on a Friday mums or mums-to-be are short on food – facing a weekend with no money or access to money. That’s the time we’re most likely to need to take them something to tide them over – see them through a tricky week.
So why is this happening in Birmingham in 2012? Why are people so poor or short of money that they can’t afford to feed themselves or their families.
Below are the five main reasons we have found – in no particular order:
- Women in between sources of income: This could be a change in the benefits someone is entitled to, leaving work or any other change which means a gap in the money they receive.
- Women new to the country or the city: When you have just arrived in the UK it takes time to get registered for support, some people might be avoiding the system altogether.
- Domestic violence: This can range from needing to leave home in a hurry without any money to being controlled by an abusive partner in how you spend money.
- A partner losing their job: This is another interruption in the reliable flow of money into a family. Their is often a gap into the time it takes to receive jobseekers allowance and as unemployment has risen more families find themselves stuck in this temporary hole.
- Delays in the system for registering births: This is relatively new. Because it now requires an appointment to register a birth that alone can take two or three weeks. Following that it takes time for any relevant benefits to become available. Both of those delays can mean a family finding themselves very short of money.
Do you know of any others? Which, if any, are easily fixed?
Breaking the cycle of teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancies can go through families in generations. It’s quite common in fact for young mothers to be the offspring of young mothers. It’s the lifestyle and culture that many women know and find it hard to break.
I met Leah as a young mum to be who was from a family who were part of this chain of teenage pregnancies. Her mum had a huge family and her sisters are all young mothers, each continuing the cycle and lifestyle that went before them. All of them had many interactions with social services. All of them expecting help without making the initial steps to get it. It’s a hard mind set to break.
Leah was different though, scared and lost (as young people tend to be), she was trying to escape the same lifestyle that she has seen growing up and had affected her mental and physical wellbeing, with Leah even having tried to kill herself to escape her situation. She had also lost trust in everyone that she came into contact with, professionals and people who said that they were trying to help her.
She didn’t want to be a teenage mum, struggling to support her baby until they too became a teenage mum. She needed to be guided and to be helped, simple information and support that could help her change her life.
Because Leah wanted to be different, I was able to show her a way past the problems and hassles that she was expecting to face, showing her that if she was able to make the first move then she would be rewarded for it. Silly little things like taking her to parenting classes and doctors appointments so that she was able to care for her baby, filling in application forms for benefits and grants so that she was able to look after the baby on her own and helping to build her confidence and trust by speaking to her honestly and openly, without looking down on her or her situation. She so desperately wanted to be different to all of those others that have their baby taken away from them that she was prepared to do anything she could to help herself.
These “silly little things” add up, she realised that I was there for her all the way, that I wasn’t going to take a half hearted ‘OK’ for an answer and that together, we would follow through with the things that we said we would. I gained her trust by doing what I said I would, when I would and made sure she kept to her promises too.
The Leah that I saw at the start of our is a completely different person to the one that is now the proud mother of her baby girl. She’s happy, she’s confident and she is accessing the support that is available to her, from professionals too!
And of course the baby is gorgeous!
The family can be a place of violence and abuse…
Of all our social institutions, the family is perhaps the one with which we are most familiar. As we proceed through our lives, our experiences within the family give rise to some of our strongest and most intense feelings. Within the family context lies a paradox, however: although most of us hope for love and support within the family — a haven in a heartless world, so to speak — the family can also be a place of violence and abuse.
MARILYN POOLE, Family: Changing Families, Changing Times
Farah (not her real name) was physically and emotionally abused by her partner for many years. As Farah was from a Pakistani heritage she was made to believe that this is the norm of every Asian family.
Farah grew up witnessing the same tribulations in her mothers life. Her father used to beat her mother for minor reasons such as; there is mess on the floor which is not cleaned. After questioning her mother Farah’s mother said this is the fate of all women and this is what all men do. Farah grew up witnessing this violence between two people who taught her about life …………….and this is what she was taught, a womans place is in the kitchen, and if she makes a mistake she needs to be punished.
Now Farah is living through the same horror, not realisng this is unacceptable and inhumane. She has a belief ingraved in her from her family that it is normal to live inthis kind of a relationship…….
Getting people ready to work
Finding a job at the moment is tough for a lot of people, tougher still if you have few qualifications or are lacking experience in the world of work so we understand that many people need help to overcome the barriers and fears that they may have in stepping into the unknown.
Shamana joined one of our Employability Courses this year when she was struggling to find work. Initially overwhelmed by the thought of going back to training, especially as she thought she was a bit older than the average learner, Shamana tells us how she was made to feel comfortable in her course while being offered the support and guidance to help herself become more ready for work and confident in her own abilities at the same time.
We currently have more courses running that can help you develop your work readiness, CV or even just your confidence. They are free to join and normally in your local area.
If you are aged 24 and under and would like to know more about our courses then please contact Chelsea Gaffey on chelsea.gaffey@gatewayfs.org or phone on 0121 456 7820
Coping with post-natal depression
Veronica talks about coping with post-natal depression.
Pregnancy Outreach Workers help with practical things but also offer emotional support too. Veronica suffered from severe post-natal depression. It can be hard work to deal with a new baby, but post-natal depression can make life seem impossible. Because Veronica felt unable to deal with anything at all, things piled up. Bills weren’t paid and important letters were ignored. She also had two other children that needed looking after.
I helped Veronica sort out her finances, fill in forms and make the phone calls she felt she couldn’t manage; I also helped her find a child-minder which made a big difference – and I tried to keep her outlook as positive as possible. Sometimes I even made her laugh!
All together I supported Veronica for seven months, and eventually she was able to manage much better by herself, and her baby girl did well too.
Social support in pregnancy
Kalvinder talks about the support she got from Gateway.
Being pregnant is supposed to be a happy time, but it can be very difficult. We help mums deal with practical and emotional problems so they can concentrate on keeping healthy – and having healthy babies. After she found she was pregnant Kalvinder came to Birmingham from Southampton to be near her family, but there were problems. We helped her sort out a complicated benefit situation, helped her find somewhere suitable to live - and every problem solved meant there was something less for Kalvinder to worry about – and that’s what our job is all about.
Our Keyworkers get people into the jobs they want
13 weeks pregnant and under a lot of stress, Diane* was a client of our POW service. She was involved with an abusive partner and had suffered an early miscarriage, as well as experiencing the onset of depression. During that time her benefits had also been cancelled.
Diane was referred to the key worker service where she was offered support and guidance from one of Gateway’s Key-workers, Susan Bernard. When Susan met her she was still struggling financially. Susan supported Diane through frequent one to one visits and phone calls and signposted her to relevant agencies, who helped Diane get motivated and search for courses as she was interested in voluntary/paid employment. Diane’s burning ambition since leaving school has been to work in the Travel and Tourism Industry.
Diane was very resilient despite all that she had been through as a young person and had been doing voluntary work with West Midlands Fire Service for a time. She had also managed to find a voluntary placement with Travel Lodge which she has hoped would lead to a permanent position.
She enrolled for a French language class which she has been attending one evening a week to improve her skills but unfortunately had a setback due to a car accident which meant she wasn`t able to continue her role with Travel Lodge. This was really disappointing for her because she had set her heart on working for them as a Receptionist/Front of House role and had done all the required training for the organisation .This was just another barrier to overcome for Diane.
Susan supported her to complete a quality CV and covering letter so she was prepared for future job vacancies.
With the gained confidence and tools for finding employment Diane applied for a job with Birmingham Airport for a Security post. She was not expecting to receive a positive response due to lack of experience but was keen to apply and hope for the best. Diane was then short listed for the interview which was a full days assessment. Diane was very nervous but Susan supported her with interview preparation and confidence building to help Diane focus on the task ahead.
Diane’s application was successful out of sixty applicants and feels over joyed with what she has managed to achieve after such a difficult start
Diane has now started her new job and is finally getting to where she wants to be in life, all with her new baby!
*Name changed to protect identity
Losing 5 stone? That’ll be the Health Trainers
Health Trainer Paul Clarke’s client, Jenny*, was referred into the Health Trainer Service as she wanted to lose a bit of weight and also was very keen on learning more about healthy eating.
Sitting down and discussing her lifestyle, Jenny was easily able to identify the reasons behind her problems in losing weight. She also explained that she had managed to quit smoking with the help of Call to Quit, and identified that the constant support and weekly monitoring really assisted in her achievement her goal of quitting. Jenny said that she was able to give up smoking because of all the support she had.
Jenny and Paul decided that weekly monitoring would really help with weight loss. Paul explained to Jenny about the Lighten Up programme which would help her to receive the support she required with losing weight.
Paul encouraged her to attend a trial session at Weight Watchers to make sure she enjoyed the programme. Paul and Jenny were both happy with the programme and indeed Jenny had lost 4lbs in the first session!
Following on from this, Jenny had lost a further 9lbs, taking her weight loss to 13lbs. Although she was happy that she was losing weight and had almost lost a stone to this point, and had set herself a target of losing a total of 55lbs – with the support of Paul and Lighten Up
Over the next 10 weeks Jenny lost 40lbs – Which was AMAZING!! Her BMI had also decreased in this time from 31 to 24
Although the progress Jenny made was excellent, she was still determined to lose the final 6lbs to reach her target weightloss of 60lbs. Within 3 weeks of her final appointment she contacted Paul to confirm the good news that she had lost the final 6lbs she had hoped for.
In total, Jenny lost 68lbs, or an equivalent of 4 stone and 12 pounds and has vowed to keep strict on her lifestyle choices and is enjoying the time being able to be more active with her daughter.
A great example of working together, well done, Jenny Paul and the Lighten Up team.
*names changed to protect identity
POWs get more mums to breast feed
19 year old Jess talking about why she wants to breast feed.
Our latest statistics show that 70% of our mums started breast feeding, compared to 68% across Birmingham.
Most people agree that breast feeding is the best start for any baby. They got all the nutrients they need, it helps give them a strong immune system. It’s so important that UNICEF’s ‘Baby Friendly’ initiative is promoting it around the world. And we always encourage our new mums to breastfeed. Some of them say they don’t want to, but we find that’s because they don’t know how good it is for their babies and how good it is for them.
Some mums simply aren’t confident about trying it, they say they won’t do it right, and sometimes they do find it a bit difficult, and don’t have enough support to get it established.
We visit mums before they give birth to let them know what to expect, and then once the baby’s arrived we visit them at home to answer any questions and help them with any problems. We always encourage mums to give it a go and then support them so they keep going.
Gateway Wins Award for Reducing Barriers to Employment
From left to right: (Gateway Programme Manager, Laura Ward, Sue Gladwish and Kerry Chase from Action for Blind People)
Gateway Family Services were delighted to receive an award this week from Action for Blind People, the charity that represents those who are blind and partially sighted, across the UK.
Gateway, who are a social enterprise that helps overcome barriers to employment and community health services, received the charity’s ‘See the Capability, not the Disability’ award for their work with Sue Gladwish, a registered blind lady from Kitwell in Birmingham who, after a six-month paid placement, has now been offered employment, helping to transform her confidence and self-belief. In the video below, Sue talks to us about how, after 18 years, she is enjoying being back in the ‘working groove’ again.
Sue is the administrator for Gateway’s Lighten Up Service. She said: “Gateway Family Services has recognised my capability, not the disability of sight loss. Their support has boosted my self-esteem, showing that being visually impaired shouldn’t be a barrier to work. I can contribute just as much as my sighted colleagues, thanks to the company’s innovation and support.”