What the service does and how it works

Families Together East Lothian operates as a “one stop shop” for families seeking voluntary, confidential support. It is designed this way so that help is accessible, and available where and when families need it. The approach is simple and centred on building trust, listening to families and working alongside them to achieve their goals.

Getting started

Families are welcomed by a Family Outreach Worker who takes time to get to know them. Through open conversations, strengths, needs and goals are explored together. Families and workers agree priorities and next steps. The outreach worker provides practical, tailored help over a period of around 12 weeks. Progress is reviewed together and plans are adapted as needs change.

Support on offer is wide-ranging

Families can access support on a wide range of issues, including parenting and family relationships, connecting with local services and opportunities, managing finances and budgeting, and addressing challenges within the home. The aim is to reduce pressures, strengthen wellbeing and help families achieve positive, sustainable change.

Building relationships is at the heart of support

At the heart of the approach is a commitment to building trusting relationships. Family Outreach Workers work alongside families to understand their experiences, recognise their strengths and support them to identify their own goals and aspirations. By enabling families to take the lead in planning for change, the service helps build confidence, resilience and lasting improvements in family life.

Family Outreach Workers are based in communities across East Lothian. Alongside one-to-one outreach support, families can access a range of community-based groups, activities and drop-in opportunities, ensuring support is available in ways that work best for them.

Support in the community

Alongside direct family support, the East Lothian Change Team has worked with partners to develop and test new community-based opportunities shaped by feedback from children, young people and families. These initiatives have helped address gaps in support and improve access to local services and resources.

This work has also strengthened relationships across services, supporting more coordinated and collaborative approaches to meeting families' needs. Many initiatives have been developed jointly with public and third sector partners, bringing together expertise and resources to provide more joined-up support for children, young people and families.

Community-based opportunities include:

• Play Well, Grow Well: a partnership initiative in East Lothian that supports babies and families where developmental concerns have been identified at an early stage. Developed by Health Visiting and Speech and Language Therapy services and Families Together East Lothian, the programme aims to strengthen parents' confidence and skills, promote play-based learning, and connect families with wider support. The project responds to consistently higher levels of developmental concerns identified among children in the Prestonpans and Port Seton areas of East Lothian, particularly relating to speech, language and communication, emotional wellbeing and social development. By providing early, whole family support, the programme seeks to improve outcomes for children and give them the best possible start in life. Families are identified for support through developmental reviews and health visitor assessments. This piece of collaborative work has allowed Families Together East Lothian to work with new partners, upskill multiple teams, use shared data and identified needs as a focus, use quality improvement tools throughout and deliver something new to families.
• Young parents group: After a group of young parents shared that existing support did not fully meet their needs, a dedicated young parents group was established in response. Open to parents aged 26 and under with children aged three and under, the group meets weekly and provides a supportive space for parents to connect with peers, access advice and guidance, and learn about other available services. The group has helped strengthen peer networks and build parents’ confidence in their parenting skills.
• Raising Children with Confidence programme: Families Together East Lothian works with third sector partners to deliver a parenting programme designed to support parents’ understanding of child development and strengthen positive family relationships. Through practical guidance and shared learning, the programme helps parents build confidence in their parenting, model positive behaviours, and support their children’s resilience, emotional wellbeing and healthy development.
• Parent Toolbox: A practical, group-based programme that brings together techniques and strategies from a range of evidence-informed parenting approaches in a relaxed and supportive environment. The programme helps parents deepen their understanding of child development, build confidence in responding to challenging behaviour, set consistent boundaries, and nurture their children’s resilience and emotional wellbeing.
• One stop shops: The Change Team, in partnership with East Lothian Council services, NHS, Public Health and third sector partners are testing drop-in sessions to provide access to support, advice or guidance without appointments.
• Shared triage: The Change Team has worked with an existing locality forum to develop a joint triage process where decisions about family supports are made. This provides a route for families to get easier access to early intervention and preventative support through Families Together East Lothian and is an example of partners working collaboratively to provide joined-up support for families.

 

Figure 1: Case study illustrating joined-up working between Early Years services and Families Together East Lothian