Eight-year-old Jaiden used to find going out so hard that he would not speak to the people he passed, his dad says. Now “he says hello to every child, every person we pass.”
His dad credits the change to four years with Family Support Wales. The community interest company works with children and families across Swansea and the surrounding area.
The family came to the organisation around four years ago. His dad describes a very quiet and withdrawn child who did not want to interact with other people or children.
School was hard too, he says. Jaiden had been getting into trouble and at one point was at risk of being removed, and his dad gave up work to become his full-time carer.
From a play group called POPs to saying hello in the park
Jaiden started at the organisation’s POPs group, short for Positive Outcomes Play, where the organisation says children take part in activities, socialise and build confidence. The family also began receiving care at home and support out in the community.
The organisation says its staff take Jaiden to parks, on walks and to the shops to help him grow more independent and confident, and that when they first took him out they encouraged him to say hello to the people and children they passed.
That is the change his dad notices most: the boy who would not talk to anyone now greets everyone, he says.
When the school minibus stopped, the support workers drove him in
The organisation has also stepped in when the family hit trouble, his dad says. At seven, Jaiden was no longer able to use the school minibus, and Family Support Wales says its drivers and support workers took him to and from school instead.
His dad said: “They’ve helped us with different challenges that we’ve had as parents. They’ve helped us with the school bus and everything, having him extra hours, giving us the carers.”
He added: “We’re very appreciative of what they do for us.”
In May, the organisation says, it referred the family for a two-night break at an Action for Children caravan on Gower. For a family built around a full-time carer, it was a chance to spend time together, the organisation adds.
His dad called the weekend “absolutely amazing”: “It was boiling hot, we had the swimming pool, everything to go with it. You can’t fault that.”
‘They’ve always been there, no matter what we’ve been through’
After four years, his dad says the organisation has become part of family life: “We’ve got nothing bad to say about them. They’ve been absolutely amazing to us.”
He added: “If you need the help, they’re there. They’ve always been there, no matter what we’ve been through.”
Family Support Wales has been running for around eight years across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and the surrounding areas. It offers community support, care at home, day services, respite and holiday services, and works with children, young people and adults with additional, complex and multiple needs, it says.
Families can approach the organisation directly, and it also takes referrals from professionals and other organisations, it says. Each family’s circumstances are looked at individually to find the support that fits, according to the CIC.
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