While Christmas and New Year can be a time of happiness and celebration for some families, it can be very difficult for others…

This can be a challenging time for some people/families for different reasons; for example, they may live on their own, they may be recently bereaved, they could be struggling financially or they could be exhausted because of their caring responsibilities.   Difficult family circumstances can become more exaggerated at Christmas and New Year by factors like too many parties/family gatherings and/or excess alcohol.

A busy holiday period like this, can put additional strain on some families who are already coping with difficult circumstances.

The Family Support NI website www.familysupportni.gov.uk provides contact details and information about statutory, community and voluntary family support organisations throughout Northern Ireland.  This information allows parents and young people to access the most appropriate family support services available in their local area.

Services are listed for all types of family support, including young carers, disability, domestic abuse, drug/ alcohol misuse, mental health, social care for children, and others.

You can search the website by going through the family support categories listed in the ‘Choose a Service’ section, or if the type of service you are looking for is not included here, you should use the ‘Keyword Search’ option to search for key words like ‘Foodbank’, ‘Debt’, ‘Bereavement’ ‘Prison’ or ‘Parenting’.

You can narrow your search to within a 1/5/10/15 mile radius of your postcode, within a particular District Council Area or you can search Northern Ireland for a Regional service.

The website can be found at www.familysupportni.gov.uk or information from this website can also be accessed via a FREE childcare and family support App which can be accessed by searching for ‘FSNI’ on App store/Google Play/Windows/Kindle

 Email  info@familysupportni.gov.uk  or call 0845 600 6483

Helen O’Neill, Communications Manager, Health and Social Care Board on 028 9536 1004 or via email helen.oneill@hscni.net

 DOWNLOAD our FREE APP.  Search for ‘FSNI’ on Google Play, App Store, Windows or Kindle