Support services for mental health within the UK is overwhelmed and overstretched. The mental health services available is often difficult to navigate, presents challenges that can be discouraging and if explored privately can be costly. Just Family Peer Support is an approach that helps individuals who are struggling and the practice of peer support fosters a connection based on similar lived experiences.
Just Family CIC recognises and understands that supporting parents means better outcomes for themselves, their baby or child, young person and, possibly, their wider family unit. We use a number of validated evaluation tools within our Parent Workshops, so we are confident when we say we have seen a genuine positive difference this support can make.
Just Family CIC provides specialist independent advocacy focused on dedicated, one-to-one support. We can offer advocacy service to anyone requiring assistance at pre- and post-natal, hospital, consultant, midwife, health visitor or GP appointments as well as formal education meetings and Social Services meetings. Just Family advocacy is about making sure that your views and opinions are being heard and listened to.
Just Family CIC tailor our support to meet the needs of the individual and family, and we can also work in partnership with professionals to support and complement any psychological interventions and/or education welfare services.
Just Family CIC are able to provide a range of interventions which can meet the needs of the whole family. Either collectively or as individuals, this includes interventions with parent only, parent and baby, toddler, child or young person and with child or young person individually.
Our mentoring services for young people (11+) are tailored one-to-one sessions adopting an individual, person centred approach. The role of the mentor is vast, and our practitioners are able draw upon their extensive experience and skillset to provide young people with the guidance and direction required for growth and wellbeing.
Helen has a wealth of experience as a Children’s Nurse, Health Visitor and certified Holistic Sleep Coach and will be a visiting practitioner at Just Family.
Her full professional qualifications include;
• RNDipHe (child) – Children’s Nurse
• BSc Hons (SPHVA) – Health Visitor
• Certified Holistic Sleep Coach (Level 6)
• Multi-agency Level 2 and Level 3 Child Protection
What sets Helen apart is that she has four children and 22-years of experience working with families! Essential Parenting is not a franchise so Helen can tailor every plan to meet the needs of the parent and the child.
Some of the aims of Essential Parenting include; helping you set up a calm, safe sleep environment; introducing happy, achievable bedtime routines and to help you to understand what developmentally normal sleep looks like.
You can expect Helen to use a parent led approach rather than a didactic method of teaching with you and your child. Also, Helen is dedicated to working alongside families with evidence-based methods they are comfortable with in a gentle but confident way.
Helen is committed to infant mental health, parent-infant attachment and the responsive and respectful care of children.
Baby Sleep and Behaviour Routine – Sleep Training Specialists (essentialparenting.co.uk)
I’m Sheli and I am a qualified Counsellor, Play Therapist, Clinical Supervisor, Certified Animal Assisted Play Therapist, Filial Therapist (attachment based parent child work) and author of several therapeutic children’s books.
I have been working with children therapeutically for 15 years and I am a director of Creative Action Team CIC (CAT), which I co-founded in 2012.
I had a vision to combine my therapy practice with my dogs. After seeing time and again how powerful the human animal bond could be and ‘CAT‘ was formed to help children and young people.
We have grown into a small team of therapist working in Cheshire and Surrounding areas.
I am passionate about helping children and families and working holistically, and I strongly believe “one size Does NOT fit all!”
Outside of work I live with my three dogs and my adult daughter, Heather, who is soon to depart overseas to pursue her dreams. I enjoy dog sports (Hoopers), walking, dancing and travel around the UK in my old campervan and further afield without it!
Working with Just Family CIC is wonderful as we share the similar goals to offer support to those in need in the local community.
Kate is an Educational Support visiting practitioner at Just Family.
Kate has been working in schools for the last 9 years ranging from nursery to sixth form, as well as working in retail for 8 years where she was a floor supervisor within the Arcadia Group.
Additionally, Kate is a qualified social sciences teacher with KS3 English and Maths as her second subjects. Kate is passionate about helping others and providing positivity and support where possible, she truly believes kindness can make changes and within her role, working with families and children, is the best way to deliver this.
Kate loves her role in education because she defines herself as a positive role model for our next generation. She is always positive and encouraging towards her students and prides herself in the strong relationships she creates within her classroom. Kate has a good moral compass and strong work ethic, which she can relate this strongly to her students.
Furthermore, Kate holds additional qualifications in Children and Young People’s Mental Health (Level 2), Child Protection (Level 2) and Safeguarding Children and Young People (Level 2).
Kate’s personal interests and hobbies include baking and cake decorating, of which she has started my own business from! Kate loves to travel and visit new places, in 2016 she spent 8 weeks travelling around Australia! She has a bucket list of places I want to visit including the Maldives, Florida, Lapland, Mexico, and Vegas. Kate is creative and hardworking, as a cake decorator and a teacher she has mounds of patience!
Sarah is a visiting practitioner to Just Family. Sarah has a BA Hons Degree in Psychology & Criminology and a Post Graduate Certificate in Low Intensity Psychological Therapy.
Additionally, Sarah is trained in low intensity CBT for long-term physical health and is currently studying for Post Graduate certificate in High Intensity CBT.
Sarah’s specialisms is around Domestic Abuse & Wellbeing, where she previously worked as Wellbeing Lead for an NHS service. Sarah has 13 years’ experience of working delivering therapy for the NHS.
Prior to that, Sarah worked in prisons and for the Youth Offending Team and is trained up to Enhanced Level as a Triple P Positive Parenting Programme Facilitator.
Sarah is also a trained holistic therapist, reiki master and mother to three lovely children.
Darren is a certified Life Coach and NLP practitioner where he works with his clients to discover their true purpose in life, maximise their potential and turn their dreams into goals. He has a true passion for personal development and becoming the best version of yourself.
Darren has a demonstrated history and extensive experience of working in the substance recovery and wellbeing sectors. He managed a local residential rehabilitation unit supporting service users from addiction to recovery, before co-founding a wellbeing organisation, helping clients to improve their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
Darren is a published author and released his first personal development book titled ‘Dreams to Goals’ earlier this year which has a 5-star Amazon rating.
Darren is a proud Dad to his teenage daughter and has a passion for helping other Dads.
Since pursuing a career in Coaching, Darren has helped his clients to achieve both their personal and professional goals, he specialises in mindset mastery, positive self-talk and goal setting.
Hi, I’m Liv, the proud mum of to Freddie who was born in June 2020. I have been attending Just Us since August 2020, when the mum and baby support group first started.
The group has supported me in many ways; by boosting my confidence as a mum, easing my anxiety and allowing me to meet other mums and share our experiences throughout the pandemic. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to support others in my role as a Parent Ambassador as Just Family have supported me so much.
Outside of full time work, I like spending time with family, watching documentaries, doing arts and crafts, attending the theatre and travelling abroad. I have spent time working with children and young adults of all ages when I worked as an entertainer in Cyprus.
A few years ago I achieved my Gold Duke of Edinburgh award through the Air Training Corps and completed over 100 hours of charity work through this scheme. More recently I have become a volunteer pen pal for the charity Omega, where I write letters to lonely and isolated people in need.
I am hoping to spend time using my skills and experience to volunteer for Just Family in the future and helping them to spread the word about how amazing the organisation is.
Janine is the Founder, Director and Lead Practitioner for Parent Wellbeing and Early Years within Just Family… but most importantly, a mum to three girls.
Her professional qualifications include: PhD Social Policy Candidate, BA (Hons) Social Work, Accredited Early Attachment Practitioner, Open University – Health and Social Care (K100) and Diploma in Nursery Nursing NNEB. With 20+ years’ experience of supporting families in different settings and circumstances, Janine has developed many vital and transferable skills which she now uses to provide expert support and care to children, parents and carers.
She is able to communicate effectively with all ages, and with people from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. Her ability to be versatile and adaptable is evidenced by her being able to interact with adults, children and their parents/carers, as well as being equally self-confident in liaising and directing other professionals on sensitive matters.
The experiences outlined, a commitment to continuous training, learning and boundless enthusiasm, have provided her with a good understanding of the many requirements of supporting individuals and their families. This has allowed her to deliver results efficiently and effectively in a professional and caring manner.
Janine saw a need for support for families when she experienced first-hand the lack of support and service provision within her local area to assist her through a very difficult time of perinatal anxiety and depression during/after her pregnancy/birth of her second daughter. She saw the effect that it had not only on her, but also her family as a whole and how specialist support could have helped.
Her vision is for every family to live happy, healthy lives with positive relationships and a chance to reach their potential. Therefore, Janine has made it her mission to provide a range of quality support services, including peer support groups, parental workshops, 1-1 tailored support, advocacy, mentorship, signposting and accredited interventions, all run by trained practitioners and volunteers that help and promote emotional health and wellbeing and ensure a holistic whole family approach to make a genuine difference to families lives now and help them build brighter futures.
Hi I’m Katrina mum of two, Jacob and Dottie. In October 2020, I accessed the support of the Just Us groups as I was struggling with feeling quite anxious and lonely as a single mum.
I have struggled with mental health needs for a number of years, but Janine and her team made me feel comfortable and supported, I felt I could trust them and be open and honest. I’ve received 1-1 support for a few months now and it has honestly made my life so much better, I feel valued.
I wanted to be a parent ambassador, as I feel I have a lot of knowledge that I can share with others through my own experiences and from a research point as well. I want parents and children to know they are never alone and someone is always listening to them.
I’m also currently training to be a breastfeeding peer supporter, this means I will hopefully in the near future be able to support new mums in their feeding journeys.
Jasmine is a student currently studying towards a MSc in Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing at Edge Hill University and also has a BA (Hons) in Early Years and Childhood Studies. She has a lot of experience working with children and young people, ranging from 3-18 years old. Jas has lots of experience working in mental health and is able to spot signs of when things might not be right.
She has a keen interest in mental health and supporting people, so joining the Just Family team was a key opportunity. Jas loves working with young people, it’s been a passion since she can remember! Growing up with younger siblings has definitely had an influence on her interests, she loves watching children grow and develop into their full potential. Jas has always been told that she has a caring and nurturing nature and would like to share it with the families in the local community.
Jas has experience in a lot of different areas including talking to high-risk cases of mental health (such as self-harm and suicide) and those less risky. She volunteers her time every week to support people of all ages on a crisis support helpline. Additionally, Jas was a Teaching Assistant for SEND children in Year 4, has worked at Behavioural Services for Trafford Council and was a Residential Support Worker, supporting young people living independently.
Jas enjoys going for walks with her family and spending time with her friends. When she isn’t studying, Jas likes to swim and enjoys to read. She also loves concerts and festivals and would love to go to Glastonbury.
In addition, Jas has extra qualifications in Safeguarding, Level 2 CACHE in Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health, Level 3 in Mental Health Counselling, Supporting Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and First Aid. As Jas is a student, she has a lot of time management and organisational skills that she will bring to the Just Family team.
Sam is a registered Social Worker, Body-Informed Worker and Mentor. Sam’s practice centres around working with the mind and body in such a way to create sustainable changes in physical and emotional wellbeing.
Sam holds over 10 years’ experience working with young people with social, mental, emotional and behavioural difficulties in therapeutic settings and over 12 years of body-based practice. More recently, Sam has explored and undertaken training in trauma informed practice and this continues to be an ongoing area of her own professional development.
Sam is an experienced Yoga Teacher, skilled at teaching mindfulness, somatic exploration and self-regulation techniques and now works to combine disciplines to support adolescents and young adults towards greater, sustained wellbeing.
Sam’s particular interests and specialisms include the trauma informed and body based, ‘bottom-up’ interventions and continuous professional development in the following areas; Pre and Perinatal Trauma Awareness, Somatic Approaches to Healing Trauma, Basic Principles of Somatic Experiencing, Teen Mindfulness, Trauma Basics for Youth Workers, Neurobiology of Trauma & Trauma Informed Yoga Practices, Body Practice tools to Support Anxiety and Depression and Calm for Kids accredited Teen Yoga Training.
Sam is a Practitioner passionate about working with adolescents and young adults to make meaningful difference through a holistic approach, and that is why Just Family and the services provided are so incredibly important to her. Sam is committed to her own explorations of trauma informed work, body awareness and therapeutic practice and dedicated to supporting young people and young adults to develop emotional awareness, regulation and connection, so that the growing levels of distress among these age groups can be reversed.
Samantha is a mum to a 5 year old girl Jessica and 1 year old boy Jack. She really enjoy exercising when possible, fashion and beauty. Among her favourite things are going for long walks with nature and cosy coffee chats. Becoming a mum has been one of the best things Samantha has ever done, when she looks at her children, Sam is just filled with love and pride.
Sam also knows how exhausting it can be and the challenges that families go through. Just as you feel like you are getting the hang of it, something new comes along, and you are left clueless and trying to find your way all over again. It was through experiencing becoming a mum that made Sam realised her passion, to help and support other families however possible. The journey is incredible but also challenging and Sam wants to help make it a little easier and a little more enjoyable for all members of the family.
After having her daughter, Sam took a leap and started a degree in Psychology at Staffordshire University where she soon realised there was an interest in Health Psychology, focusing on behaviours, eating, physical activity, substance misuse, chronic conditions and our reactions and needs when receiving bad news (such as a diagnosis of a chronic condition or a terminal illness).
Sam has graduated and is currently now completing a Masters in Health Psychology to gain more specialist knowledge within these areas, with an aim to go forward to support families within these aspects of life. Sam has a key interest in gaining a variety of knowledge and training outside of her Masters and will continue to complete shorter courses with the aim to offer additional support in a variety of areas. Sam is trained to deliver a Coping with Crying Programme.
Additionally, Sam has been taught therapeutic and counselling skills which, alongside her volunteering experience, has developed my ability to communicate with people, taking on a person centred and a non-judgemental approach when supporting families. Sam is an open person and understands the challenges of daily life, supporting full that it is OK to not be OK. Let’s find a way together to make things a little bit better.
Nicola is a devoted mum to her adult daughter Alex and twins Jack and Phoebe born in 2010. As a family, they love spending time outdoors due to their love of horses. They own a foal called Bond which takes up most of their weekend, both Jack and Phoebe are avid horse riders so Nicola spends lots of time watching them with her heart in her throat.
Enabling families to make changes has always been the most important and rewarding part of Nicola’s job. Nicola feels it is a privilege and an honour to be welcomed by families to support them during some difficult and personal times.
Nicola completed her Degree in Social Work at Keele University in 2007. Following a degree, Nicola worked as a Children’s Service Practitioner at NSPCC, Crewe, where she gained 9 years’ invaluable experience, knowledge and skills working directly with children, young people and their families.
Nicola have extensive experience of developing and delivering bespoke interventions on a 1:1 basis focusing on various aspects of children’s emotional health and well-being, such as self-esteem, resilience, loss and separation, behaviour management, problem solving, understanding and managing feelings. Additionally, Nicola also has experience in delivering accredited group intervention programmes to children and young people facing multiple adversities including domestic abuse and substance misuse.
All the above interventions have been informed by evidence based holistic assessments. Nicola has demonstrated the ability to analytically assess all dynamics of family life and the child’s world to develop effective interventions which evidence positive outcomes.
In addition to her degree, Nicola completed a Graduate Certificate in Practice Education in 2015. As a Practice Educator, she has experience of supporting students and newly qualified social workers with their professional development and practice. She has also facilitated training packages and workshops at a regional and local level.
Since establishing as an Independent Social Worker in 2016 and later as a director of Just Family CIC, Nicola has specialised in Childhood Attachment, undertaking numerous training programmes. As an Early Years Attachment Practitioner, Nicola delivers Baby Bonding, Toddler Bonding, Heart to Heart and Parent Child Attachment Play. Furthermore, Nicola has also worked closely alongside and within the Creative Action Team CIC leading to a qualification in Level 1 in Animal Assisted Play Therapy.
Julie is a qualified teacher with 20 years’ experience of teaching in local schools and a variety of community settings. She specialises in English, with a particular passion for developing children and young people’s love of writing.
In 2010, Julie founded a community tuition centre from a desire to provide affordable additional learning for local school children. The centre now provides support to hundreds of children and young people, aged 7-18, each year, with a dedicated team of staff who strive to boost skills, confidence, and help individuals reach their potential and realise their dreams.
In the same year, she also founded a community interest company which focuses on working with disadvantaged communities across the city to enhance key skills, self-belief, motivation to achieve and aspirations.
She has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and loves a new challenge!
For a number of years now, Julie has used her experience and skills to support other charities and community businesses with their development and growth, bringing skills in strategic planning, project management, training, bid writing and fundraising support, finance, and compliance.
She works with a number of notable local charities and not-for-profits, striving to help them maximise their impact on the local community. She is also an active member of the Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce.
Her experience of working with families has shown her the importance of early support and intervention and that’s why she is driven to support Just Family.
Sandra is a volunteer for the team at Just Family and is a mum and grandmother.
Sandra has worked in a variety of professional roles that has enabled her to develop a wide range of transferable skills through continuous training, learning and enthusiasm. Sandra carries a professional and caring attitude, able to communicate effectively with all ages, and with people from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences.
Sandra feels comfortable interacting with adults and children and has experience supporting individuals, family and friends in a non-professional capacity. Sandra enjoys being involved in helping to promote general well-being, emotional health and wellbeing as part of a holistic whole family approach and has an understanding of anxiety and depression and its impact
Outside of work, Sandra enjoys spending time with friends and family, being outdoors, walking, travelling/holidays in UK and abroad, knitting, adult colouring, sewing, reading, bird watching, TV/theatre/cinema, eating out.
Sandra has extensive experience of working in industry in a professional capacity. Her transferable skills have been gained through exposure to a wide variety of roles and levels of responsibility in both the public sector and the private sector, and more recently in a higher education. Sandra has worked in different areas of the NHS and has a partnership working across the local health economy.
Additionally, Sandra has a BA (Hons) in Environmental Studies (2006) and has other qualifications in Emergency First Aid at Work and Safeguarding. Sandra also volunteers for Newcastle Foodbanks at Chesterton and is a Patient, Information, Education & Research (PIER) at the Haywood Hospital.
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It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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