This week, we’d like to help a mum Jenny and her four children. The children ended up in temporary care after witnessing years of domestic abuse.
Each child has been deeply affected by what they’ve lived through.
The eldest, who’s 10, struggles with anxiety and control. She’s always on high alert and worries constantly about something bad happening. She has frequent nightmares and finds it hard to make friends.
Her six-year-old gets overwhelmed by his emotions. When he’s upset, it can come out as anger - throwing things, shouting, swearing - not because he’s being naughty, but because he doesn’t know how to process his big feelings.
Her five-year-old daughter, who’s recently been diagnosed with ADHD, struggles with risk-taking behaviours. She’ll suddenly run into roads or bite herself if she’s distressed or waiting too long.
And her youngest - just a baby - is growing up in all of this.
Jenny left her partner and her and the children are all back together and safe. She’s completed domestic abuse recovery programmes and she's working with support services and the children’s school to help rebuild their lives. She's so worried about the effect this has had on her children, and is always asking what more she can do to help them.
The house they’ve been placed in doesn’t have proper flooring in the living room, their sofa is broken and the children fight a lot for attention, so it’s going to be a long, challenging summer for Jenny.
Their social worker said: “This is not a family in crisis - they are a family in recovery. These children are not “naughty” - they are hurting. And Jenny is doing everything in her power to help them heal.”
Jenny lives on Universal Credit and has no real support network. She wants to go back to work when her baby is a bit older – as a swimming instructor to begin with and, one day, as a domestic abuse support worker. But right now, she’s really struggling.
With your help, we’d like to carpet the living room, provide some paint, mural stickers and soft lighting for the children’s bedrooms, as well as a sofa and sensory toys. We’d also like to pay for holiday activities for the children to help them stay busy and happy.
*Name has been changed and stock image used.