Family Friends is a registered charity set up in 1993 to support disadvantaged families. Through a network of trained volunteers we provide befriending and mentoring services. We help families living in deprived areas of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Through respect, encouragement and support, we aim to ‘help families to help themselves’ by discovering their strengths and building on their coping skills.

Family Friends carefully recruits, trains and matches volunteers with parents, children or adolescents. Volunteers meet the family in their home, once a week for two hours. They offer long-term practical and emotional help based on each family's unique needs and potential. Volunteers pledge a year's commitment and Family Friends' staff back up their work with on-going supervision and family feedback interviews. 

Life today is full of pressures. Parenting is a challenging job and growing up in an inner city can be tough. Whether you're feeling low, vulnerable, unable to cope, confused about how to move forward or swamped by responsibilities, we can help. Our friendship is unconditional - all we ask of you is the wish to make changes for the better.

In the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea we offer two services:

• Parent befriending - For parents with a child or children under the age of 16.
• Child/adolescent befriending and mentoring - For children/adolescents aged 5 and above and under 16 years old.

Child/adolescent befriending has a more emotional focus and is activity-based, while mentoring has an academic focus.

In the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham we offer one service:

• Parent and Child Befriending - for families with a child under the age of 5.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please click here.

Family Friends is an Approved Provider of The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, a cabinet office scheme (see News).