Advice for children
It’s not your fault
Sometimes, parents that are either married or in a relationship make the decision to break up and live alone. When this happens, it happens for a number of different reasons, all related to their relationship. The important thing to remember is that it is never your fault and your parents care for you very much. You may want to blame yourself, but always remember it is absolutely nothing you did and that relationships come to an end usually due to disagreement between the adults.
We know how hard this is for you, and that it’s even harder if there are reasons you can’t see both parents, or as much of one parent as you used to. That’s why our centre and our team exists. We help you keep seeing the family you don’t live with after your parents have separated.
Seeing your parent or carer at a family time centre
It may feel scary when the parent or person you live with tells you that you will be coming to a family time centre to see a parent or someone from your family. But, we promise it’s actually really ok. Usually, a specialist will have decided on what type of family time you should have based on your needs and your existing relationship with the other parent. We will also have identified if there are any reasons for us to be concerned about safety, and put plans in place to make sure you are always safe and with a member of our team.
The different types of family time you can have are:
Supervised family time - where a member of our team is with you at all times.
Supported family time - where a member of our team will be around to help if you need.
Community family time - where you do something fun in the community with your other parent, and we are there in the background.
Indirect contact - receive a gift or letter.
What is our centre like?
We’ve tried to make our centre a really fun place to visit, with lots of activities both indoor and outdoor. We have private rooms which are set up just like play rooms and living rooms, so it feels really cosey and like being at home.
Take a look at some of our rooms
Useful Resources
Text - The NACCC has created a number of useful resources and videos which can help you understand more about what to expect and answers to any questions you may have.
The links to these are listed below.
