Parentline plus

Parentline Plus is a UK based charity that works for, and with, parents.

History

Parentline Plus was the result of the merger of three charities: Parentline UK, National Stepfamily Association (NSA) and Parent Network.On 7 September 1999 NSA and Parentline UK held AGMs and agreed formally to merge as FamilyLives [http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2001/feb/26/voluntarysector.fundraising] . Those AGMs were immediately followed by FamilyLives’ first Board meeting. Parent Network’s merger into the combined charity took place on the 31st March 2000.The Rt Hon Lord Justice Thorpe was the first Chair and the new Board included Trustees of the merging charities. Lord Thorpe went on to become the first President when he stood down as Chair and Michael Leadbetter was appointed as the new Chair in April 2006.

Dorit Braun [http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/apr/25/childrensservices.guardiansocietysupplement] had led the mergers and became Chief Executive of Parentline Plus (previously appointed Chief Executive of NSA in 1997). She was awarded the OBE in June 2000 and took early retirement April 2008.

Activities

Parentline Plus works to offer help and support through an innovative range of free, flexible, responsive services - shaped by parents for parents. These include a national helpline [http://www.parentlineplus.org.uk/index.php?id=760] and three websites, Parentline Plus, Parentline Plus Professional and Got A Teenager.

Area Offices

Parentline Plus has ten regional offices, based in Bristol, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, North East, North West, Nottinghamshire, North London and South London [http://www.parentlineplusforprofessionals.org.uk/index.php?id=221] . In Scotland, the same Parentline helpline number is operated by Children 1st which is a separate organisation.

Values

Parentline Plus point out that instructions aren’t included and that parents are the most important people in their children’s lives. Helping parents is the best way to help children.

The services offered are confidential and free, and the charity takes a non-judgemental approach to parenting [http://www.parentlineplus.org.uk/index.php?id=456] .

Got a Teenager

Over half of the calls received by Parentline Plus are from parents of teenagers [http://www.parentlineplusforprofessionals.org.uk/cmsFiles/policy_statistics/Parentline-call-data210408.pdf] so the organisation identified a need for specialist online support. On Tuesday 9th September, Parentline Plus launched a new website, GotATeenager.org.uk with widespread media coverage due to the inclusion of a jargon buster section [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4710082.ece] . The term "teenglish" was used by the project leader Nikola Mann to describe the language used by teenagers but not understood by their parents [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054167/Check-Im-proper-hench-New-dictionary-helps-parents-understand-teenglish-language.html] .

Be Someone to Tell

On the 14th October, Parentline Plus are scheduled to launch a "Be Someone to Tell" anti-bullying website resource for parents.

Notes

See also

Parenting

External links

[Parentline Plus] http://www.parentlineplus.org.uk [Parentline Plus for Professionals] http://www.parentlineplusforprofessionals.org.uk [Got A Teenager] http://www.gotateenager.org.uk

Categories: Charities based in the United Kingdom