Parents' Peer Support Group - Young People's Counselling Service

What to expect

This parents’ peer support group, facilitated by the Young People's Counselling Service (YPCS), is an inclusive group and open to anyone who is a parent or carer.

Often when a young person is going through a challenging time, it also impacts their parents, the family, and everyone around them. The parents’ peer support group is a safe space to talk about what is going on for you, hear other people’s stories so that you don't feel so alone, and get tips and tricks that you might not have thought about. They are open to having people come and talk to them about particular topics.

There are no exclusions to who can attend based on where you live; as long as you can get to a venue, you can attend.

There is no restriction on how old your child is to be able to attend. They have some parents who attend whose children are over the age of 18, but due to additional needs the parents still appreciate the extra support.

The group is just for parents to attend and not their children.

They have three facilitators. Jen Anker, who is a parent and has lived experience of supporting her children with a variety of challenges, and experience of running mental health groups. Alison Graham, who is a trustee of YPCS, a retired GP and a parent with lived experience. And Leonie McCarthy, who is a therapist as well as a parent with lived experience. There is a lot of expertise in the room between the facilitators and the other parents who attend, so this is a welcoming group who 'just get it'.

They know that stepping foot through the door can be really hard, so if there is anything that they can do to help, for example meeting you outside before coming in, then they are really open to this. Jen and Leonie also offer a short introductory phone call if you want to get to know them and the group a bit more before attending. Sometimes parents want to bring along a friend or relative to help support them in the group, and that is fine, too.

The group is very informal. They don't put anyone on the spot to have to talk and don't have set structure, they very much go with the needs of the group and anything anyone has to bring to the group. Sometimes this results in full group discussions, sometime the group naturally breaks into small groups. They make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to talk if they want to.

Each group is followed up by an email outlining the discussion that was had, and sending round any helpful resources. If you can't attend every session, you will still be included in the emails to be kept in the loop. They also have a closed Facebook group for members to join so that you can keep connected and share things between sessions.

There is no need to book, they know life can be chaotic and you might not know until last minute whether you can attend or not. However, please feel free to drop them an email so they know to expect you if you do know in advance that you are coming.

There are two locations, one in Yaxley and one in Peterborough, which run on alternative Wednesday evenings 6 - 8pm. Photos above show the East Family Hub venue in Peterborough. At the bottom of this page are photos of the Yaxley venue.

To find out more including dates for each venue, please email [email protected] or [email protected]

More information

Both venues are on the ground floor with no steps, making it accessible for all. There are also accessible toilet facilities at both venues.

Free refreshments are available at all groups.

There is a free car park at East Family Hub for use by the group. The Centre is located to the left side of the carpark and the school is on the right.

There is no car park at the Annabelle Davis Centre, but there is a car park at the small shopping parade off Lansdowne Road, a two minute walk from the entrance. There is free parking there for 2.5 hours. There is also various free on-street parking around the centre.

The group is free to attend.

Also included is an email follow-up after each session with signposting and specific information discussed by the group.

They offer free refreshments at each group.