Our Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) team works with young families to provide them with support and a dedicated family nurse. The team in Waltham Forest have partnered with local charities, such as Redbridge Zero Waste, throughout the year to ensure that our families have access food, clothing, toys and a support network to raise happy children.
FNP works with mums and dads under 25. They build long term close relationships with their family nurses from pregnancy all the way up to the child reaching two years old. FNP takes things one baby at a time with holistic drop-by-drop interventions. It is trauma informed and strength based which is particularly useful if we want to encourage long-term behaviour changes to help make families healthier and safer. Breaking the cycle of disadvantage doesn't have to be a big change.
Keeley Rayner, FNP Quality Support Officer, started the events ad hoc sessions with only a handful of families attending and this has grown to monthly sessions at Queens Road Family Hub. Keeley helped bring in others such as charities like Redbridge Zero Waste to help their clients with all their needs.
Liana Gintautaite, Care Group’s Interim Head of Children’s Services in Waltham Forest, said the aim is to bring families together, connecting mothers and dads in the area. “Our colleagues work from the heart. People might think it’s a few freebies, but it really matters.”
Earlier this year we also saw Liana can also be seen dressing up as the Easter bunny to give joy to both the children and her colleagues:“It’s hot but so much fun to step out of management and into something silly”.
Local mums and their family nurses were joined at the year’s final event session was extra special with Christmas music and a visit from a Pearly Queen, Teresa Watts who regularly donates to the group.
Local mums and their family nurses were joined by an extra special guest, the Pearly Queen of Clapton, who regularly donates to the group. by Teresa Watts, Pearly Queen and a long-time supporter of the Family Nurse Partnerships monthly family groups.
by an extra special guest, the Pearly Queen of Clapton, who regularly donates to the group
Profile: Teresa Watts, Pearly Queen
Teresa Watts, Pearly Queen, works in social care for children with disabilities in Redbridge and has been working on deprivation in East London in both her professional and charity life.
Teresa started a baby bank called Orchards Baby Bank in Redbridge supplying them with equipment throughout the year. Our Family Nurse Partnership receives donations of food, clothes and toys every month for our young parents group which meets in Queens Road Family Hub. As a Pearly Queen, Teresa explained that it’s something you are born or marry into and that her mother was a Pearly Queen before her. She said “The divide between the super-rich and the poor has only got worse in the 58 years I’ve been working in deprivation. There’s nothing better than having children helping children. I go into schools to talk to them about how it feels to give or to receive a gift from another child. All to teach them kindness, charity and spread a bit of love.”
You may catch Teresa on Heart Radio for an annual Toy Appeal and in and around North East London supporting several charitable efforts. The baby bank called Orchards Baby Bank
