BYHP working with Centrepoint

​At the end of February I had the opportunity, not only to attend, but to speak at the Centrepoint launch of ‘Families under Pressure: Preventing family breakdown and youth homelessness’, which was held at Yahoo HQ in London.

Preventing homelessness has always been at the heart of BYHP.

Our Family Mediation programme strives to keep all our young people safe, whether it is at home or with extended family, supported housing or private rented accommodation but always somewhere they can call home. 

Relationships with parents can often be rocky going through the adolescent years but, if this relationship was fragile before, it can often break down completely when faced with adversity. 

Even if the young person doesn’t return to the family home, they still want a relationship with their family and often having the support of a Family Mediator, a professional who is non-judgemental and listens, can make a huge difference to the dynamics of families.

A group of professionals from many different organisations such as DePaul, Crisis, Relate, St Mungo’s and Barnados gathered together with Centrepoint to discuss effective ways to prevent youth homelessness.
 
In conclusion, it was agreed that lots of support around the whole family is essential and Family Mediation plays a huge role with this.  Other factors come into play with parents’ expectations and poor resilience, poverty and overcrowding, all of which have a detrimental effect on young people’s aspirations.

The pressure to leave home and find a job and not be a burden on their families is immense and can often lead to poor mental health.  We need an holistic approach to each individual family and to recognise that some families will need support long term. 

Image taken from Centerpoint – Part of their research findings

We have a lot of work to do to improve prospects for the young and disadvantaged and their families who come to BYHP, and it is with the support of our funders and the local community that we can continue with this valuable and necessary intervention to improve life opportunities for everyone.
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The BYHP team look forward to working with Centrepoint in other areas where BYHP delivers services.