James's Story - Nowhere to turn

James is a single father of four boys. He moved down to London from Glasgow to be nearer to his Mum, and benefit from her support. Sadly, James’s mother passed away one year later. Twice, James has had to move from rented flats due to landlords selling their properties. This meant moving schools each time, and this was very unsettling for the boys.

James and his boys have had to recently move again, due to the Fire Service registering the property as unsafe. As a result, the family ended up being placed in a hotel for seven weeks before being placed in temporary accommodation. This meant another change of schools for his boys. As a result, two of them were refusing to attend, leaving James at a complete loss.

Not knowing where to turn, James contacted our Family Support team who agreed to support him. The first task for his Family Support Worker was to ensure the family had sufficient clothes, beds and also window coverings for their flat, to give them some privacy. His Family Support Worker started talking to the two boys in relation to school, and discovered one felt he couldn’t keep up with the work and was struggling, and the other was being bullied by some older children. Both were referred, along with James, to our therapy service and a meeting was set up with the school as well.

One month later, both sons are attending school, on a phased return, and are expected to be in full time education next term. The son that was struggling with school has been offered extra learning support by ScotsCare and feels better able to cope with his upcoming exams. Family therapy sessions are ongoing, and everyone feels it’s helping. His Family Support Worker is in contact with a housing provider to try and help secure permanent housing for James, so his family can finally settle in one area, without the threat of having to move.

* Statistic from National Centre for Social Research