Innovative charity partnership celebrated in Dundee

Three years of a unique and groundbreaking collaboration between four national children’s charities will be celebrated at a learning event in Dundee on Tuesday 10 February 2015.

The Dundee Early Intervention Team is a collaboration between Aberlour, Action for Children, Barnardo’s and Children 1st, and aims to offer comprehensive support for families facing difficulty in the Dundee area. The service works to improve outcomes for children and families, addressing problems before they get any worse and preventing the need for greater interventions by social services.

Funded by BIG Lottery and a Public Social Partnership with the Scottish Government, the team supports families with advice and guidance on any and all aspects of parenting, social, health and relationship difficulties over a fixed period of time. The service is flexible and adaptable to normal family life, routines and pressures, and operates outwith the traditional 9-5, providing support as early as 7am and as late as 10pm, including weekends where necessary.

Speaking before the event, Aberlour’s Chief Executive SallyAnn Kelly said:

“This collaboration has brought together the expertise and specialist understanding of four long established children’s service providers. It has shown that we can pool our strengths to help stabilise chaotic home circumstances, whilst delivering real and positive outcomes for vulnerable families, who might otherwise need significant intervention from statutory services.”

Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland, said:

“The Dundee Early Intervention Team has developed a flexible range of services to support families when they need it the most. The project has been an exemplar for practical early intervention and partnership working.”

Alison Todd, Chief Executive of Children 1st, said:

“I want to thank all the people involved in this project for their excellent work supporting families in Dundee. We’ve learned a lot from this project about how early intervention can benefit children for the rest of their lives. I look forward to collaborating further to continue to develop and improve services for children and families in Dundee.”

Carol Iddon, Director of children’s services at Action for Children Scotland, said:

“Action for Children Scotland is proud to be part of this groundbreaking initiative, which has enabled vulnerable families in Dundee to benefit from the collective expertise, commitment and care of the country’s four leading children’s charities. This is an important and effective way of working. I hope the success of the Dundee Early Intervention Team will lead the way for future collaborations.”