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Family Support Work Impact Report 2025/26

Family Support Work supports children and families across Sussex. Its 2025/26 impact report highlights increased need over the past year, the achievements of its family support workers and volunteers, and the difference made for families, measured through its traffic light journey away from crisis towards stability and independence.

Report snapshot
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About

Family Support Work (FSW) is a Sussex charity supporting children and families facing difficulties. Its family support workers and volunteers provide practical and emotional help, supervised contact at the Eastbourne Family Contact Centre, and early help that moves families away from crisis towards stability and independence.

Key Metrics

Families supported 1,173 families were supported, delivered by the equivalent of 11.5 full-time staff backed by volunteers.
Stronger connections 79% of families reported stronger connections with services or peer networks.
Coping skills 72% of families felt better able to manage stress and everyday challenges.
Emotional wellbeing 55% of families reported improved emotional wellbeing.
Community funding Donations and legacies provided 659,143 pounds, 69.6% of income, keeping front-line family support free at the point of need.

Key Outcomes

  • Families showed consistent movement away from crisis and towards greater stability and reduced need on FSW's traffic light journey.
  • Growth at the Eastbourne Family Contact Centre enabled more families to access supervised contact.

Geography

South East

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
438,000 pets treated across 49 Pet Hospitals, equivalent to 4,700 pets every working day
Key Metric 2
Over 2 million treatments provided; veterinary services cost over £85 million, funded entirely by donations
Key Metric 3
327,000 children reached with pet education messages; Pet Health Hub received over 4 million online visitors
Veterinary care provided to the pets of over 360,000 people in financial hardship across the UK, with 46% of clients disabled or living with a serious health condition
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
2.4 million benefits calculations completed via free Benefits Calculator
Key Metric 2
1.5 million people identified new benefits worth an average of £5,396 each (£12.9bn total)
Key Metric 3
£3 million in grants awarded, supporting 2,164 people across the UK
4.8 million people accessed the Turn2us website for information on claiming support they are entitled to
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
7,325 individual children supported; 9,269 instances of support across the year; 6,660 referrals fulfilled; 485 emergency newborn hospital packs delivered to 23 London hospitals...
Key Metric 2
734 regular volunteers; 31,348 volunteer hours; 146 one-off volunteers (700+ hours); 99 corporate volunteer groups (3,900 hours)
Key Metric 3
Items gifted worth over £3 million (if new); 128 tonnes of goods redistributed; £22,714 in financial support secured or saved for families via signposting;...
Connections and signposting: Family Connections team spoke to 2,764 families; signposting support provided 1,037 times; 77% of signposting recipients had never accessed similar help before; £22,714 in financial support secured or saved