Extra support for parents being abused by their children has been secured thanks to more than £300,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
The social enterprise PEGS, which helps those impacted by Child to Parent Abuse, has been awarded the money over the next three years in order to expand its services.
In its first two years of operation, the organisation supported more than 2,000 parents – and they now have in excess of 100 referrals a month from all over the UK. Parents, carers and guardians can refer themselves, or can be signposted by a professional.
The services on offer include virtual drop-ins, a peer support group, empowerment programmes, tailored workshops, one-to-ones and advocacy.
Michelle John, founding director of PEGS, said they were thrilled the National Lottery funding panel had recognised the need for CPA services – especially given at least 3% of UK households were thought to be impacted by abuse, which could be physical, financial, emotional, or even sexual.
Children of any age, including adult offspring, can display the behaviours – and at the very extreme end of the abuse, an incident of parricide (where a parent is killed by their child) happens once every 19 days in England and Wales.
Michelle said: “It’s vital for us to ensure parents feel listened to, believed and empowered – and the National Lottery funding will enable us to reach even more parents who currently may have no one to turn to. It can be extremely isolating to experience CPA, especially given it’s traditionally been fairly unknown and the support has always been limited.
“We aim to increase awareness around the topic, among the general public and among frontline services working alongside families, as well as working with national and regional bodies to help them implement and develop their policies, practices and frameworks.
“This will all be made much easier over the next three years thanks to the grant from The National Lottery Community Fund. Initially, we will be looking to open a new hub and take on additional staff in order to support an increase in services such as calls, drop-ins, advocacy, workshops and programmes.”
Pictured: Michelle John