Amanda Culverhouse has joined Community Family Care as Project Lead for the new Family Group Conferencing Service launched in North Somerset.

After a 16-year career in Human Resources and six years as a mediator in situations such as bullying and harassment, Amanda trained in Family Group Conferencing in 2017.  Since then she has also provided advocacy for young people in Somerset.

She and a sessional team of FGC co-ordinators will deliver the service from Worle for a minimum of 24 referred families per year for North Somerset Council.

“Most of the families we work with are put forward for support by social workers, usually when relationships have broken down and a child may be about to go into care,” said Amanda.

“We bring together the family’s relatives, friends and maybe neighbours and help them to come up with solutions that keep the family together in a safe and supported environment. The service is often a lifeline to families who don’t know where else to turn.”

Manager of Community Family Care, Sasha Hart, said: “We’re proud to have Amanda to lead on our new Family Group Conference service. Her experience and ability are invaluable and we’re excited to have her on board to launch the service.”

Community Family Care won the three-year contract for North Somerset Council, worth £150,000,  by competitive tender.

The independent, not-for-profit agency provides bespoke support services for children and families, building on families’ strengths to help make positive change and bring about lasting outcomes.

A new Family Group Conferencing Service has been launched by Community Family Care for families in North Somerset.

The breakfast launch, held at the Town Hall in Weston-super-Mare, was attended by social workers, early help workers and family support workers who wanted to find out more about the new service.

Family Group Conferencing empowers families to access support from relatives and friends who together come up with a plan to help solve a problem they may be experiencing. The aim is to enable children and families to safely stay together with the guidance of a Family Group Conference co-ordinator (who is not a social worker).

Community Family Care won the three-year contract for North Somerset Council, worth £150,000 by competitive tender. It has recruited several family group conference workers to provide the service from Weston-Super-Mare for a minimum of 24 troubled families per year.

Project Lead is Amanda Culverhouse, supported by Sessional Co-ordinator Teresa James.

Chief Executive of Community Family Care Mark Kingston said: “We’re very pleased to have won the contract and look forward to working with North Somerset Council.

“We’ll be providing an essential service for families who have experienced a lot of grief and trauma. The aim is to support them so that they are able to reach their own solutions.”

Community Family Care is an independent, not-for-profit agency which provides bespoke support services for children and families, building on families’ strengths to help make positive change and bring about lasting outcomes.

North Somerset Council has provided Family Group Conferencing since 2003 with an in-house team. Councillors agreed to outsource the service to external providers in 2016.