Family Support

Click here to visit our Loss, Bereavement & Grief page for information for adults who have been bereaved or are experiencing loss or grief.

Supporting children through grief and bereavement

Child Bereavement UK
Click here to visit the Child Bereavement UK website for information on supporting bereaved children and young people. They also offer a webinar for parents and carers who are supporting a bereaved child and children and offer a helpline and live chat support. 

Grief Encounter
Grief Encounter supports children and young people through bereavement. They offer a free webchat service and a helpline. Click here to visit their website for more information. 

NHS
Click here to visit the NHS website for information on Children & Bereavement.

NSPCC
Click here to visit the NSPCC website for information on how to support children through grief and loss. 

Winston’s Wish
Click here to visit the Winston’s Wish website for information and advice on supporting a bereaved child. They also have specific information available around SEND support. 

YoungMinds
Click here to visit the YoungMinds website for a guide to supporting a child or young person with grief, bereavement or loss. They also offer a parents helpline which can help at this time. 

Click here to visit our Carers page for information for adults caring for other adults. 

Sunderland Carers Centre
Sunderland Carers Centre provide support for people who look after others. That doesn’t mean professional carers. They support people who care for their husband, wife, mam, dad, son, daughter, sibling, friend or other relative. They offer information, advice and guidance to carers in and around Sunderland – and it’s all confidential, non-judgemental and impartial. Click here to find out more. 

Parent Carers

Online and Telephone Support

Contact
Contact are here for families with disabled children wherever they live in the UK, and whenever they need us. They run a freephone helplien for parent carers wanting expert one-to-one advice. Their Listening Ear service is for families seeking emotional support. Their website also provides online advice and information about concerns you might have about raising a child with additional needs. Click here to visit their website to find out more.

Family Lives
The Family Lives website has useful information for parent carers and Family Lives also provide a free helpline for families. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Support in Sunderland

Choice Wellbeing Service
Choice Wellbeing Service is a parent carer specific mental health wellbeing service. Receiving your child’s diagnosis can be an emotional rollercoaster for the whole family. At Choice Wellbeing Service CIC, we’re here to help you navigate that journey. Choice Wellbeing Service are focused on stamping out misinformation and supporting families by giving them the right information, when you need it, from the right people. In order to achieve this, the service has developed a number of printed and online information guides, including The Rainbow Guide. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Sunderland Parent Carer Forum
Sunderland Parent Carer Forum are a parent led, voluntary group of parents, carers and grandparents of children and young people (CYP) aged 0-25 with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities); we are pan disability. Our aim is to give parent carers a voice in how services for CYP with SEND are shaped and delivered in the City of Sunderland, as well as an opportunity to come together and talk in a relaxed atmosphere. Click here to find out more. 

Young Carers

Online and Telephone Support

Action for Children: Sidekick
Sidekick is a confidential text and email helpline for young people in the UK. Sidekick originally launched for young carers however since that time, we have seen how many young people needed our help. Now, we are open to all young people in the UK. Click here to find out more and to reach out for support. 

Carers Trust
The Carers Trust website provides information about getting support if you are a young carer or young adult carer. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Nacoa
Nacoa (The National Association for Children of Alcoholics) provide information, advice and support for everyone affected by a parent’s drinking. They also provide a helpline. Click here to visit their website to find out more and to access support.

NHS
Click here to read about help for young carers from the NHS website. 

Support in Sunderland

Together for Children: Young Carers Card
The young carer’s card is for young carers who are having problems at school because they are looking after someone at home. Young carers can carry the card with them at school and can show the card to teachers when they are having problems. Click here to find out more on the Together for Children website and to apply. 

Click here to visit our Domestic Abuse page.

Support for Children & Young people

If your child is struggling with their emotions or mental health, it’s important to know that support is available.

Online & Telephone Support

Childline
Childline is a free service for children and young people – here whenever they need support or advice. Through their website they offer a range of information and resources to help children and young people to look after their health and wellbeing. They offer information on a range of subjects as well as a number of tools and resources which can provide support. In their toolbox you can find a coping kit, a mood journal, a calm zone and more. They also offer a 1-1 counsellor chat and a helpline. Click here to find out more. 

Kooth
Kooth offers a free, safe and anonymous mental health and wellbeing service, providing online counselling and support for children and young people aged 10 to 25 years old in Sunderland.
Click here to find out more and to access support.

NHS 111
If you urgently need specialist advice, 24/7 crisis support or information in Sunderland about a young person, call NHS 111 (press 2). Click here to find out more about mental health crisis information for under 18’s.

Papyrus
Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide is the UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing in young people. Their HOPELine is available 24/7 to provide support and advice for children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Shout Crisis Messenger
Shout is the UK’s first and only free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging service for anyone who is struggling to cope. Click here to find out more and to reach out. 

YoungMinds
YoungMinds provide young people with the tools to look after their mental health. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Support in Sunderland

SCCYPMHS
Sunderland Community Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service (SCCYPMHS) is a team of professionals who offer support and advice to aid mental health and positive well-being. Our service works with children and young people aged 0-18 who may be showing signs of emotional distress and/or behavioural difficulties. We aim to deal with such difficulties at the earliest possible stage of intervention in the hope that children and young people will develop skills and resilience to promote positive well-being. Click here to find out more. 

CYPS
The Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS) provides a single service to all children and young people aged 0-18 years living in South Tyneside and Sunderland who present with mental health difficulties. This includes children and young people who may have learning difficulties and those living in a range of difficult and challenging circumstances. Click here to find out more.

Washington Mind Young People’s Project
Washington Mind Young People’s Project offer 1-1 counselling and groupwork for young people aged 11+ who live within the City of Sunderland. Counselling is offered in a variety of venues across the City of Sunderland including, The Life House, PopRecs, and some schools and other community settings. Click here to find out more. 

Support for parents/carers

Balancing work, family life, and parenting. Supporting a child who’s struggling with their mental health while also managing your own. The constant pressure to hold everything together can feel overwhelming. When you’re focused on caring for others, looking after yourself can easily fall to the side. Yet prioritising your own wellbeing is important and you’re not alone. Click here to find out more from the YoungMinds.

Online & Telephone Support

CALM
Campaign Agianst Living Miserably (CALM) offer a suicide prevention helpline is for anyone affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts. Click here to find out more. 

Samaritans
Whatever you’re going through, a Samaritan will face it with you. We’re here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Click here to find out more and to access their free confidential emotional support. 

Shout Crisis Messenger
Shout is the UK’s first and only free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging service for anyone who is struggling to cope. Click here to find out more and to reach out. 

YoungMinds: Parents Helpline
The YoungMinds Parents Helpline offers tailored information, advice and support to parents and carers who are concerned about their child or young person’s mental health. You can speak to them over the phone, or chat to them online. Click here to visit their website to find out more and to reach out. 

Support in Sunderland

Click here to visit our mental health page for more information on local support. 

NHS Sunderland Talking Therapies
Sunderland Talking Therapies offer a number of therapies, classes and groups to help with a range of common mental health difficulties. In Sunderland there is a sinle point of access service in place via NHS Sunderland Talking Therapies. This means that you contact them and they will arrange an initial appointment to see what is going on for you at the moment and discuss arranging the most appropriate support for you from there. Click here to find out more and to make a self-referral. 

When a child feels too anxious to go to school, this is called emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). It’s sometimes referred to as school refusal or school anxiety. Below are some links to useful informaton to help understand EBSA and supporting your child.

Action for Children: Parent Talk
The Parent Talk website has information to help you understand; EBSA, reasons for school anxiety, helping your child back to school, working with the school, getting help and support, educating a child who won’t go to school. They also provide a free and confidential online chat support for parents and carers in the UK through which you can also reach out to parenting coaches. Click here to visit their website for more information. 

Family Lives
The Family Lives website provides information on why your child may be struggling to go to school, bullying or friendship issues, exam pressures and schoolwork, special educational needs and neurodiversity, mental and emotional health, health and wellbeing, issues at home, how you can help your child, working with the school and the Local Authority. Click here to find out more from the Family Lives website. 

GOV.UK
If you’re having trouble getting your child to go to school, the school and local council can help. Click here to find out more from the GOV.UK website. 

YoungMinds
The YoungMinds website has information to help you undersand what makes young people feel anxious about school, finding out what’s going on for your child, making changes at school, strategies you can try at home, if your child isn’t able to go to school at the moment, helping your child return to school after an absence, finding support and useful helplines and websites. They also provide a parents helpline. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Adoption

To find out about adoption in the North East, click here to visit the Adopt Coast to Coast website. 

Adoption England
Click here to find out about support, including education support, therapeutic support and practical support, for adoptive parents from Adoption England.

PAC-UK: Child and Family Service
The PAC-UK Child and Family Service supports adoptive parents, permanent carers and those thinking of adopting. They have a number of guides on their website and provide an AdviceLine. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Fostering

Click here to find out about fostering in the North East from Foster with North East.

Fosterline
Fosterline offers free, confidential and impartial advice and information to prospective and current foster carers in England. Click here to visit the Fosterline website to find out more and to access support. 

The Fostering Network
The Fostering Network website provides information about fostering, online workshops and a range of support through a membership. Click here to visit The Fostering Network website.

Click here to visit our Housing & Your Home page. 

Online & telephone support

Kinship 
Kinship are here for kinship carers – friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to. They offer online information and an advice line as well as online workshops and training. Click here to visit their website. 

Kinship Carers UK
Kinship Carers UK supports and advises family and friends’ carers often called Kinship Carers that are thinking or taking on the role of parenting someone else’s child. They offer online support groups which provde advice, emotional support and encouragements as well as training and advocacy. Click here to visit their website. 

Support in Sunderland

Together for Children
Click here to visit the Together for Children website to read about Kinship Carers and the services and support Together for Children offer. 

More than Grandparents
More than Grandparents is an independent reistered charity based in Sunderland ran by and for kinship carers and their families. They offer 1-1 support and guidance and host peer support group sessions. Click here to visit their website to find out more.

Click here to visit our Money Matters page to find out where you can get a range of financial support, advice and benefits support in your area. 

Click here to visit the GOV.UK website to read about parental rights and resposibilities. 

Both Parents Matter
Both Parents Matter are dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to maintain meaningful relationships with both parents and their wider family after separation. They offer a helpline for individuals navigating the challenges of family dynamics. Click here to visit their website for more information. 

Cafcass
Cafcass stands for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Cafcass advises the family courts about the welfare of children and what is in their best interests. Click here to visit their website for more information. 

Family Rights Group
The Family Rights Group provides free, independent and confidential advice for parents, kinship carers, relatives and friends of children who are involved with children’s services in England or need their help. They support families to work with social workers and understand the law, their rights and options. Click here to visit their website.

Pregnancy: Ante & Post Natal
Click here to visit our Pregnancy: Ante & Post Natal page. 

Growing Healthy Sunderland
Growing Healthy Sunderland provides 0-19 services for children, young people & families in Sunderland. From antenatal reviews to school readiness reviews and more. Click here to find out more. 

North East Young Dads & Lads
North East Young Dads and Lads Project (NEYDL) is a unique youth support service that is dedicated to helping young men and young fathers to play an active and meaningful role in the lives of their children, within families and wider society. Click here to find out more. 

Together for Children
Together for Children provide a range of services for children and their families including: Early Help, Adoption, Social Care, Education and more. Through their Sunderland Family Hubs they offer a range of services and activities to support families, from baby massage to young mams & dads sessions and sensory rooms to breastfeeding support drop ins and more. Click here to read more.

Money struggles can impact any of us. If you’re struggling to afford the essentials, there is help available. Whether you’re looking for help with stocking your kitchen cupboard with food essentials, need to access toiletries or need essentials for your baby, these organisations are here to help with either free or low cost options.

Baby Banks

Bundles for Babies
Bundles for Babies offer a discreet service for families in need providing baby & child essentials, clothing, toys and books and mothers to be with pre and post natal essentials. Click here for more information. 

Love, Amelia
Love, Amelia is a charitable organisation based in Sunderland. We provide new and pre-loved items to families living in Sunderland and South Tyneside who are experiencing hardship. Click here to find out more. 

Food Banks

Sunderland Foodbank 
Sunderland Foodbank are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks operated by The Trussel Trust. They have locations across Sunderland, Washington and Shiney Row and operate a referral voucher system. Click here to find out more. 

Washington Community Food Project
The Washington Community Food Project (Washington Food Bank) is a food bank covering the whole of Washington and Springwell, Tyne & Wear. Click here to find out more. 

Low-Cost Food and Household Essentials

Affordable Food Hubs
There are a number of affordable food hubs (sometimes called food stores) across Sunderland. While theseHubs do not offer free support, they do offer a lower-cost alternative to get food and household essentials than Supermarkets. See below to find out about your local Affordable Food Hub. 

• Houghton
• Silksworth
• Sunderland North (Fulwell based)
• Washington (Albany Based)

Pre-Loved School Uniform

Fulwell Community School Uniform Scheme 
Fulwell Community School Uniform Scheme offers weekly drop in sessions for families to access pre-loved school uniform. Click here to find out more. 

Second Chance Sunderland
The community shop offers free preloved school uniform for all as well as being able to purchase other quality affordable clothes. Click here to find out more. 

Click here to visit our SEND page on youngpeopleswellbeing for information about SEND, Diagnosis, Support, Useful Links and Local Support 

Coping with the aftermath of having your children removed by social services, or even being accommodated by the local authority under a voluntary agreement, is a very painful experience for parents and close relatives and traumatic for the children.

Family Lives
Click here for more information about when your child is taken into care on the Family Lives website where you can also find out about their helpline which can provode support and advice at this time. 

The Family Rights Group
Click here to visit the Family Rights Group website who work with parents whose children are in need, at risk, or are in the care system & with kinship carers who are raising children unable to remain at home. they also provide an advice line, live chat and online forums where you can discuss issues with and find support from others. 

PAC-UK
PAC-UK offer specialist, impartial support for birth parents and relatives whose children have been adopted or may be. Click here to find out more about their services for birth parents and relatives and to access support. They also offer an Advice Line whi can offer support at this time. 

MATCHmothers
MATCHmothers is a charity that offers non-judgemental support and information to hundreds of mothers apart from their children in a wide variety of circumstances. They offer MATCHLINE, a helpline which can provide help, support and advice at this time. Click here to visit their website to find out more. 

Click here to visit our youngpeopleswellbeing for health and wellbeing information for young people, their parents/carers and the professionals who work with them.