Keeping it in the Family

And, just to round things off at the Wood & Vale, here's the final piece, as mentioned below, on the Marlborough Family Centre. Unfortunately- no pics this time.

Keeping it in the Family

A St John’s Wood scheme has been singled out for praise by ministers launching a new family driven approach to local services.

Ed Miliband and Beverley Hughes spoke out concerning the work of the Marlborough Family Service, which offers a range of out-patient services for children, teenagers, adults, couples and families with complex needs.

The service is part of the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, and also includes a family day unit where families work in groups to recreate everyday issues, allowing them to discover solutions to break problematic patterns.

Dr Eia Asen, Lead Consultant at the Marlborough Family Service, said: "It’s good to gain this recognition. We do run an acceptable service, which is very well known not just locally, but nationally, and internationally.

"Our work is being replicated in at least ten other countries, some of whom have even decided to name their centers after ours."

The Marlborough Family Service is multi-cultural and multi-lingual, with a staff group who speak 17 languages between them.

As Dr Asen explains: "We actively aim to recruit staff with linguistic and cultural skills, to match the needs of the population we are serving. It is important to our approach to be able to communicate clearly with entire family groups."

The centre also runs a cultural therapy service, developing culturally relevant interventions for minority ethnic clients, with a community based approach.

Work can take place within the family home, or in a wider community setting, such as Soho’s Chinese Health Centre.

Mr Miliband, Cabinet Office Minister, said: "The primary responsibility for a family’s success or failure will always lie with parents, but government can make a significant difference to the chances of success.

"There should be no closed door to help for families, so that whenever vulnerable parents turn to local services they receive support that recognises the needs of everybody involved.

"We must empower local services to always ‘think family’ and enable families to help themselves."

Ms Hughes- Children, Young People and Families’ Minister, said: "We have committed £13m for projects to deliver effective help to families where complex problems can lead to poor and lasting outcomes across generations.

"By working with both adults’ and children’s services, problems can be dealt with before they become entrenched, leading to better lives now and in the future."