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Barnardos supports children and families through providing a number of direct family support services from over 40 centres across the country. To contact our services, click here.

Our work is child-focused, responding to the needs of the individual child and family, and aims to provide practical and professional supports to bring hope into situations where hope is sometimes lost. Children like Natalie.

Barnardos supports children, like Natalie, from the very start to teenage years. Involving parents and other carers in the work with their children is crucial to success. We work in the heart of local communities where many families face poverty and the stress that places on their families. We continue to evaluate and assess our work to make sure that we are using the best methods available – here and internationally.

Our services are in these key areas:

Best Start

Young children all need the same things, love, security, warmth and nutrition. Where they are deprived of any of these staples the effect, even on the youngest, can be devastating. Our work with the zero to five age group through the Best Start service supports vulnerable children in their early years focusing on healthy development and getting ready for school.

Best Chance

Once children start school, their needs develop. Routine, structure, a safe place to play and a stable and supportive home life are all critical for them to do well in school, make friends and be happy. Between the ages of five and nine years we focus on building a steady structure within what is sometimes a chaotic home setting. The Best Chance services supports vulnerable children in mid-childhood to improve learning and development.

Best Choice

As children get older they are faced with increasingly difficult choices and peer relationships play a much stronger role. The children we meet often have desperately low self-esteem and are at risk of dropping out of school. We support them to complete their education, make safe choices and build better lives. The Best Choice services helps children make a successful transition into young adulthood and get the best life chances.

Our services 

These are the types of services that we provide, depending on the needs of the child:

Early Years Services 

The difficult home lives of some children can weigh heavily on their ability to attend physically, emotionally and cognitively in school. Pre- School groups are designed to prepare the child for school and to ensure a nutritious breakfast to promote good concentration and establish positive routines around school attendance.

Individual or Family Work

Much of the work of Barnardos is tailored to the direct need of the child or family we meet in our Centres. It provides emotional and practical support from highly professional staff who look at all aspects of a family's strengths and possibilities to allow them to work through a challenge.

After School Services

High-quality programmes that support the transition into primary school, from primary to secondary school, vulnerable school placements and encourage home school links.

Family Welfare Conference

Provided in several parts of the country, this pioneering service aims to help families deal with their issues and find their own solutions through a structured approach that brings the whole family network together.

In addition to these local services, we also run a number of central services, and campaign about children’s issues.

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