Time to Thrive
Having a loved one in prison is traumatic for children and can often result in stigma. Through this programme, we work with children who have a parent in prison to support them and try to ensure they don’t follow a similar lifecycle.
Time to Thrive is an early intervention scheme delivered by Time Matters UK which provides peer support groups and one-to-one mentoring for children, aged five to 18 years old impacted by the imprisonment of a parent of family member.
Through this programme children access a wider variety of enrichment activities through our service which means during their school holidays they are well supported, learn new skills, engage in positive physical and mental health activities and wider learning opportunities.
This support can be critical in encouraging young people to engage in education and prevent them from being exposed to harm, including child criminal or sexual exploitation.
Activities delivered by the team include:
- 1:1 mentoring in six sessions, either in school or on zoom, so children can explore their feelings and emotions and work with a mentor to explore coping strategies.
- Group activities for children and their parents/carer in school holidays including half terms. These activities include mental health support groups, as well as access to fun and friendship building activities and trips to build confidence and widen their horizons.
- The opportunity for children to be peer mentors and to become ‘Changemakers’. This involves attending conferences, contributing to podcasts or research to bring about positive change for other children impacted by parental imprisonment.
- Working with Liverpool John Moores University and journalists to explore the feasibility of developing a best practice guide for the reporting of a parent’s crime in the press.
- Working with film-makers to make an educational drama about the experience of maternal imprisonment. This short film will add to our growing range of resources for children, parents and practitioners.
Through this programme children access a wider variety of activities during their school holidays they are well supported, learn new skills, engage in positive physical and mental health activities and wider learning opportunities.
This service also ensures that the children and young people always have access to healthy food in the school holidays.
During the term time, Time Matters UK focus on supporting their mental health in one-to-one bespoke mentoring sessions and referring children who need more specialist support onto other services for counselling or play therapy, but these children also remain supported by Time Matters.
This comprehensive package of physical and mental health support and referral process into wider services has a significantly positive effect on reducing health inequalities.
While this work is focused on children and young people, Time to Thrive also supports the wider family.