Literacy news

The generation gap

30 Nov 2005

Pre-school development worker Jan Furlong tells how she spotted a gap in provision

In Leeds today there are over 200 Baby and Toddler groups. When attending these groups as a Family Support Worker it became very clear to me that grandparents were not very well represented. A small amount of grandparents were attending groups, but this did not compare with the amount of grandparents looking after children either in a part-time or full-time capacity. The Grandparents' Association have found that over 60 per cent of childcare provision is provided by grandparents.

Research

When considering setting up any new group, it is vital to do your research. It is especially important to establish if there is a need in the local community for the type of service you want to set up, as this will have a huge impact on the success and sustainability of the group. With this in mind, I carried out research into groups for grandparents over a period of six months.

I decided to talk to as many grandparents who were already in, or had used provision and asked three questions:

• How did they feel about the group?
• How did they feel on the first day that they attended?
• Did they enjoy attending their group?

What became clear from this survey was that nearly everyone who had started attending a group had to attend their first session alone, which some had found very frightening. The friendliness of the group or the fact that their grandchild enjoyed attending the group were the main factors that ensured they continued attending. Many of the grandparents were looking after grandchildren because their own children felt more secure leaving them with people they know when they had returned to work, and in some cases because the parents of the child did not feel financially able to use other provision.

The grandparents I spoke to knew of other grandparent carers who have never attended a group because they felt that the provision would not be for them, especially feeling that the age factor would make them feel excluded.

For further research, I attended a Grandparents' Association AGM and talked to grandparents of children of all ages. This was very different from what I had been hearing before - many of the grandparents who attended the meeting had conflict within their families. Some were going through legal proceedings to look after their grandchildren full time, or needed support because they were now the sole carers of their grandchildren. Some had become carers for their grandchildren because their own children had drug dependency problems. I asked about whether they would find a grandparents' baby and toddler group useful. Many felt isolated and would appreciate a place they could attend where they could be with other grandparents and 'talk like grandparents rather than parents'. I did not receive a single negative comment against such a group.

Following this, I stopped and spoke to grandparents pushing pushchairs in the local area, asking them for their views about provision for grandparent carers. The response was again very positive.

Issues to consider

Although responses to the idea of grandparents' baby and toddler groups were positive, my research made it clear that the geographical location of the group was of the utmost importance. Many of the respondents said that ideally, a group would have to be close as they need to use public transport to attend.

When choosing the best location for a group, I felt it was vital that it meet the following criteria:

• In a town centre
• In a well populated area
• With good transport links
• In an area where I already had a group running very well

Being in an area near a well-established group offered the possibility of forming a partnership for their provision to be used on another day for the grandparents group. I felt that this was a very important consideration. With this in mind, I approached the Salvation Army and talked about the idea of a grandparents group. They were very responsive and indeed had already noticed that there was a need in this area as a large number of grandparents were looking after children.

Getting the message out

The biggest problem with the grandparents' group was, and probably still is, marketing the group. After the initial serious marketing push handing out flyers, we were very reliant upon others marketing the group for us. We found that some organisations such as health centres, often struggled with the concept of what the group was about. We placed the group details in the 'What's on' section of the local newspapers, but this again failed to explain fully who the group was for and what services it provided.

In September this year we joined together with the Grandparents' Association to hold a big celebratory event called The Big Grr for grandparents and their grandchildren. The event was part of National Grandparents' Week, and we used the opportunity to raise the profile of the grandparent baby and toddler groups and to let people know what services are available to them. The day was a great success and helped us to get our full message across.

Success

The success of the group has never really been about attendance figures. At the most we have had ten grandparents, falling to just two after nursery intake. However, talking to the grandparents who attend or have attended, the support and confidence they have gained through being involved in the group has been immense.

Most grandparents who attend are part-time carers of their grandchildren, looking after the grandchildren while their parents are at work. Most like the group because 'they are all the same'. It also gives them the opportunity to find out about dealing with children's behaviour. For the children, especially those who had never attended anything with other children present, it has been a great opportunity to gain confidence with other children.

The grandparents' group is about support and movement and not being precious about this being the only group they should be attending. The aim is to give confidence to the child but also to the grandparent. Most have never attended another group alone, but have sometimes formed partnerships to attend another group together. One grandparent left to attend a local baby and toddler group after encouragement to do so at the grandparent group.

Since this work started another three groups have been opened in the area and hopefully another will be opening shortly.

(Under 5, November/December 2006)

Tags: Talk To Your Baby

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