Community plays an important role in protecting parents’ mental health. Being a parent comes with many ups and downs, joys and challenges, which can affect your mental health and wellbeing.
For parents at greater risk for mental health problems, such as those experiencing poverty, single parents, young parents, and those with a long-term condition, or caring for a child with one, it’s especially important to protect your mental health.
How does community benefit the mental health of parents?
Many of us will have heard the saying, “it takes a village”, when it comes to parenting. Our families and friends can provide us with support and community. But this isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Not all of us have supportive family or friends, or people we can turn to, for many different reasons. And sometimes, those close to us don’t always understand our experiences as parents.
That’s where peer support groups come in. Peer support is central to our work with parents and families, and for good reason. Connecting people with shared experiences can give a unique sense of understanding and belonging that we need as parents. These groups can offer a positive community that promotes connection, provides support, and a feeling of being seen and heard, while reducing loneliness and isolation.
We asked members of our Parent Champion Group – a peer support group for parents – how this community helps their mental health.
Community for me got smaller once I had children, so being part of this group has become community to me and has been so important for my mental health.
My world became so small once I was bringing up a child alone, and having this group and the emotional support and practical help from other parents who I now call my friends has taken the load of the heaviness I often feel.
Other parents stepping in when you are struggling can transform how you are face your problems and solve them, having your voice heard in a group is so validating and empowering like they say, ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’.
For a lot of parents, just at the point where you need community the most – it can sometimes get smaller. Maintaining connections is important, and why peer support groups can make such a difference.
Once you become a parent you lose certain aspects of yourself, and your hobbies disappear because you have no time to spend on yourself - so that sense of community you once had goes. Reclaiming that sense of a community since joining the parent group has brought back that feeling of belonging that I had been missing since being a parent. Your mental health is even more important to look after once you have children, but harder because you put yourself last. Being with other parents in our group has made me realise how much I was missing being part of something and how it’s so beneficial to my mental health.
The members also shared the following ways that the Parent Champion Group has helped them:
- Eases the pressure
- I feel heard and validated
- Strengthens confidence
- Building friendships makes you feel less alone
- Makes your world that bit bigger
- Precious time to get out of my head
- Feeling less alone in the world
- Makes me smile and walk away happier after every session
- Makes me happy
Our peer support groups for parents and families
Our programmes run across the UK. Created for specific groups such as single parents and families, they bring people together to share their challenges and their knowledge, and to find the confidence and develop the tools to transform their experiences and grow their communities.
Project Manager, Nadine Rose, shares:
"What people need is a safe place to go, the chance to open-up about how difficult they are finding things, and access to resources that protect their mental health. That’s why it’s so important to have these peer support programmes, so people can connect with one another and find new ways to cope.
"While bringing people together may sound like a small thing, in reality, it’s massive.
"People who’ve been in a very dark place tell us it’s like getting themselves back, And that’s really powerful."
How can I find community as a parent?
From parent meet-ups, to baby & me yoga class, online chat rooms, to WhatsApp groups- there are lots of ways to find communities of parents.
Here are some ways you can find a new community:
UK-wide:
- Check your local council website
- Use the Peanut app or Meetup app to find local groups to join
- If you’re a single parent, check out Gingerbread’s groups or forum
- Search for local services for parents and families on the Barnardo’s website
- Find family support through your local Home Start
- If you’re a family with disabled children, find workshops and events to meet other families
- Go to Family Lives to find workshops for parents in your area
In Scotland:
- For families across Scotland – One Parents Families
- For dads in Scotland – Dads Rock
- Join events for LGBTQ+ families - Rainbow Families
In Northern Ireland:
- Find local services for parents - FamilySupportNI
- Peer support for parents struggling with their mental health – The Parent Rooms
In Wales:
- Find local service for parents – Children in Wales
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