Family Stories
Angie
Angie is a young mum who moved to Drumchapel from Dundee and was very isolated. Angie is a single parent with two young children. She has a 4 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. Angie’s health visitor contacted us to ask if we could do a joint visit with a health care assistant to introduce myself and tell Angie more about 3D Drumchapel and the sessions and support we provide. Angie was very anxious at her first joint meeting with myself and the health care assistant whom she already had a relationship with. As the first meeting came to an end I asked if I could call her the following week to build up rapport with her and to start building a relationship with Angie. After a few weeks of talking to her weekly I asked if she was okay if I popped round to the house to see her and the children. Angie agreed to this but was reluctant to let me into the house so instead we met in her front garden with the children. The visit went well. A fortnight later I suggested a home visit to let me explain to her a new course we were about to start delivering. On this occasion Angie was more relaxed and comfortable in my presence. The children were present too which allowed me to meet the children and start building a relationship with them too. Angie explained that both children attend nursery daily so attending our sessions in term time does not work, however in July the children came with Angie to a bus trip we provided to Clyde Valley Family Park and this provided a fun day out with lunch provided and the opportunity for Angie to engage with other parents, make new friends and be able to take her children to a place that she would have found difficult to finance. The children had a great time and also had fun making new friends.
I started working alongside Angie in April this year and by the end of May Angie agreed to attend Because You’re Worth It which is a confidence building course. Angie asked if she could bring a support worker with her as she was very anxious about being in a group situation. We gladly agreed to this to make the experience more comfortable for Angie. It is very important to go at a pace that suits the person we are working with in order to help them engage and to begin to socialise with other parents and learn techniques for dealing with anxiety and also allows her mental health to be positively impacted. As the 6 week course went on Angie started engaging with some of the other parents and made friends with one particular attendee. Angie and her friend now meet up with their children and go to the park together. This has further reduced anxiety for both Angie and the children.
Angie has now started another course with us which is a positive parenting course which gives parents the tools and strategies to promote positive parenting and manage misbehaviour. This allows parents to put boundaries in place which promotes a calmer and more structured environment. This reduces stress and promotes calmness within the home. Angie wanted to get routines in place and really wanted to create this ethos for her and the children. Angie is no longer needing to bring her support worker with her and instead is coming with a friend she met on her first course.
Angie is now comfortable with asking for support if she needs it. This is due to building a sustainable relationship with Angie where trust has been developed, confidence has been grown and friendships formed.
Angie said she feels welcome at 3D and now has a sense of belonging in 3D.
Sarah
Sarah is a 41-year-old mother of two who has been engaging with 3D Drumchapel for 8 years. Sarah first started attending 3D’s sessions while pregnant with her second child, and currently attends a mixture of parent-and-child sessions and adult groups. Both of her children are school-age and have additional support needs. Since March 2023, she has attended a total of 69 sessions at 3D.
Sarah brings her younger child to 3D’s After School Club and SENsation (a play session for children with additional support needs) every week, stating that her child ‘loves being in a safe, happy environment’. Her older child, now 13, was a regular attendee at SENsation when he was younger. Sarah said that both her children have grown up with 3D and have learned ‘love and respect and good manners’ through attending 3D’s sessions. She praised the friendships her children have formed at 3D and said that staff and volunteers have always treated her family with love and respect.
Sarah feels that 3D has helped her grow in confidence as both a person and a parent. On alternating Wednesdays, she attends Triple P Peer Support (for parents/carers who have completed the Triple P parenting programme) and SPACE Peer Support (for parents/carers of children with additional support needs) – ‘that’s my routine’. Over the past year, she has also attended two blocks of wellbeing sessions hosted by 3D, Mindful Ink and Mindful Movement. These adult groups have helped her combat feelings of isolation, learn new parenting skills, and practise mindfulness techniques for dealing with her panic attacks. She said she always comes away ‘feeling heard, feeling relaxed, feeling fed’ and knowing she is not alone. In 3D’s March 2024 evaluations, she wrote, ‘Coming to SPACE is a relief,’ and ‘I need the support from 3D. This is my only support – I have no help from family.’
Sarah always makes an effort to welcome new people to the sessions and promote 3D to other families, remembering how she was initially welcomed by staff and other parents – ‘I’m always trying to look after the next person’. She said 3D is ‘just a feel-good place to be’ and ‘I don’t know where I’d be without 3D’. She considers 3D her ‘second family’.