FAQs to help you know more

The Kids Matter programme is designed for families living with low-income and low-support; parenting is hard for everyone, but with limited support and finances it can be even harder! The programme is for all faiths or non and is open to mums, dads and carers.  

For a list of our criteria for the programmes click here.

Parents are connected relationally through personal ties, local referrals or schools and community centres. We find that advertising alone is not usually successful, parents come through direct invitation and/or referrals. Invitations from parents already in a group often work best! Key factors that could encourage parents to give a group a go are: learning from each other, non-judgmental atmosphere, free to come, food/drink and childcare provided. If parents are reticent, a good response is that others might benefit from their experience. 

Groups are free, welcoming, and happen at an accessible (familiar) location around a table with food/drink, and a créche provided. They are peer-led, using open questions, discussion, and our own honest stories of parenting. Sessions are two hours long and engage with key parenting topics set out in accessible material with research-based content that parents are invited to discuss and respond to. 

Three months after session 6 there is a final session (the ‘Booster’) where all the parents come together sharing the highs and lows of the last three months. This session is a great time to refresh any of the content from the programme, have a space to celebrate the change families have seen and encourage each other in the journey. We encourage facilitators to keep regular contact with parents; running a social event six weeks after session 6 can offer a space for parents to reconnect and it can be anything that suits your group, like going to the park, gathering to do a craft or just catching up in the same space as the programme. 

Between programmes, facilitators will work to build the next programme, using referral pathways, personal connections from within the partnership, and parents who can now explain why others should try a group! 

Partnership with Kids Matter is walking a journey to reach more families in need.

The first step in the journey is to have a conversation with our Partnership Engagement team to see whether we are a good fit for your organisation. If our visions align, we will formalise a partnership and agree on a date for facilitator training.

Once trained, facilitators will be supported and encouraged by our accredited team of support coaches as they build towards running their first programme, and throughout their tenure as a facilitator. 

Our Partnerships team will also connect with your partner lead and arrange regular calls to encourage them to raise the profile of Kids Matter within your organisation and to support your facilitator on the ground.

In the room alongside a facilitator, you will need a group helper. (If you are a partner, visit our resources section for how to support your group helper.) 

You will need to provide a créche to enable the parents undistracted time in which they can speak freely without their children hearing. This requires a number of adults in keeping with the appropriate safeguarding ratios. 

The partner organisation needs to have a partner lead who will champion the partnership. 

We would encourage you to consider a team that reflects the community you are aiming to reach, whether that be someone with lived experience of low income/low support, parenting experience or similar cultural experience. 

It would be helpful to nurture relationships with others who can personally invite a parent along to the group or signpost them to you. We refer to these programme supporters as ‘Community Links’, for example local toddler group helpers, social workers, and school workers. 

Visit our training page to find out more about facilitator training.

There is a monthly partnership fee that is adjusted to reflect the income of your organisation.

This covers on-going coaching support for facilitators from our accredited support coach team as well as all programme materials for the duration of your partnership. 

There is an additional one-off training fee of £180, which covers four days of online training with materials. It covers the cost of training the first facilitator. Training additional facilitators is free! 

Considering the long-term sustainability of your partnership will help to reach more families and ensure a healthy team. We recommend training up to two facilitators either initially, or at least within your first year so that they can support one another and fill in for each other if needed. 

It is also important that you have access to a regular stream of parents who would be interested in attending the programme to ensure that you can run it regularly. We would encourage you to aim for 2-3 programmes per year so consider whether your community links or current ministries would enable this.

Your support coach is on hand when things are going smoothly and when they are not; please get in touch with us when you are stuck as well as when things are good. 

The regional facilitator WhatsApps are a great place to ask for support, prayers, and ideas from other facilitators. Building connections with other facilitators can be really worthwhile! 

Continued training and practice facilitating is offered throughout the year; the termly newsletters are a great place to read about what’s coming up to support you in your facilitating. 

To order Kids Matter materials click here and fill out the online form. For Babies Matter, click here. Allow two weeks for materials to arrive! 

To access the portal click here and put in your email address; you will receive an email with a link to access the portal.

All our programmes have been specifically designed with families experiencing low income/low support in mind and all the content is evidence-informed making the programme both accessible and effective.  

By partnering with Kids Matter you will receive excellent training, on-going support, high-quality resources for you to engage with local families, and our evaluation shows that you will make a lasting difference in the lives of children and families.

We evaluate our progammes to ensure our intervention is worthwhile! Parents are asked to fill out an online survey at the end of sessions 1, 6, and three months later at the Booster session. The questions ask about their wellbeing and confidence as parents and are repeated in each survey so we can note any changes. This information informs our programme development so we can ensure our content is appropriate and effective.

If you are a facilitator needing your survey link so your parents can fill out the evaluation, then do get in touch with your support coach. 

Safeguarding must be a key consideration for all our partners. We expect you to have comprehensive safeguarding policies and practices which the groups you run must adhere to. This will require DBS checks (or equivalent) and safeguarding training for all members of your team with the parents and in the créche. 

You can view our safeguarding policy here.