Our new system will help families struggling with challenges across multiple sectors

Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of families across our community, and one thing I’ve learnt is that life’s challenges rarely come one at a time.

Family lives can be really complex, and my experience of our work at Norwood and previously at Jewish Women’s Aid and beyond has shown me that certain challenges may impact the whole family unit in a whole range of interconnected ways.

A family may be navigating life with a neurodivergent child or a child with a disability, alongside financial pressures. A child struggling at school may also be living in a home where there’s domestic abuse. Bereavement, illness, relationship breakdown, mental health – we know that these experiences are often interconnected, and they affect the whole family.

I’ve seen first-hand how confusing and overwhelming it can be to work out where to turn, who to call and how to access the right help at a time when families are already under immense pressure.

And I’ve always believed that it’s our responsibility to make the system work better for the people who need it – not expect people in crisis to work harder to navigate the system.

That’s why I’m incredibly proud to see the launch of ‘We Connect Families’, a community-wide advice and triage service, developed by 11 Jewish community charities in direct response to what families told us they needed.

It offers one confidential first point of contact, so families only have to reach out once. From there, they’ll be connected to the organisations best placed to support their needs – whether that’s within the Jewish community or one of a range of support providers across the public and voluntary sector. The initiative recognises that no one charity can meet every challenge, but together we can provide far better support than any of us could alone.

For me, this is about more than a new helpline. It’s about a different way of working. One built on trust, partnership and a shared commitment to putting families first and providing them with the best support. By placing children and families at the centre, we are able to build an infrastructure that works for them and adapts to their needs, rather than placing the burden on them to make sense of an unworkable system.

But the collaboration doesn’t begin and end with our partner providers. Many of the funders who have made the development of this important community service possible already support the work of multiple partner organisations. For those donors, seeing our community providers work collaboratively to support the holistic needs of our community’s families is really gratifying and gives reassurance of a more demand-led, community charity infrastructure for the future.

I’m enormously grateful to our partners – Kisharon Langdon, Camp Simcha UK, Jami, Jewish Women’s Aid, Jewish Family Centre, KEF KIDS Hand in Hand, Arts Therapies for Children, GIFT and Noa Girls for sharing this vision and demonstrating what’s possible when we collaborate rather than operate in silos.

Their individual expertise is vital to deliver the best support for our families, and I’m so proud that Norwood is able to lead an initiative that is absolutely focused on achieving the right support and outcomes for our community’s families.

I genuinely hope this is just the beginning. Because when organisations come together around the needs of the people they serve, everyone benefits.

Naomi Dickson is the chief executive of Norwood. 

• For more information about the service and our partners, including how to reach out for support, visit weconnectfamilies.org.uk