Frimhurst Family House
Frimhurst Family House, run by the charity ATD Fourth World UK, is based in Frimley Green. For nearly twenty years, Frimhurst has been providing disadvantaged families from the local area and across the country with opportunities to take a step back from their often chaotic lives.
At this time of economic uncertainty, of cuts to benefits and services, of rises in unemployment, eviction and homelessness, families who have always had to struggle are facing a bleak future.
Increased uncertainty leads to increased stress and vice versa, destabilising an already precarious existence and creating a vicious cycle that may ultimately lead to personal and family turmoil, ill-health, debt and other knock-on effects that can tear families apart.
Frimhurst remains an oasis of calm to many struggling families, a place where they can take a break from their worries, build good memories, spend time with others who are experiencing the same as they are, share problems and solutions and create a lasting network of friendship and support that benefits them well beyond their short stay with us. Our support goes further than the short time that families spend with us thanks to a team of dedicated family support workers who provide ongoing support in many areas of these families lives.
Frimhurst is situated along the BasingstokeCanal not far from FrimleyLodgePark. Respite breaks take place in school holidays and on selected weekends. Activities include creative workshops, games, outings and sports. Our wheelchair accessible facilities includea computer room, a games room, a library, an art studio, a nursery and more. A partnership with Surrey Heath Family Learning has provided fun but instructional cookery workshops, budgeting and parenting workshops and other family learning opportunities that can support families on their return home.
Many of the families that benefit from Frimhurst go on to become active members of our national organisation, volunteering in our offices, helping with maintenance and upkeep and becoming advocates for families who cannot speak out for themselves. We have a formal volunteering program where they can turn their help into a qualification and a social worker training program where trainee social workers learn from those who have been service-users. Our policy team, which is made up of full time staff and ex-service users, work in partnership with other organisations to lobby for positive policy change at local and national level.