The Red Hen Project

We are a small local charity working with five primary schools in North Cambridge. We work with and support children and their families to overcome barriers to learning, and provide a link between home and school. Our Family Workers work one to one with children and families in their home, at school, and in the community. We also run a range of outreach group activities; parenting courses, coffee morning, drops-ins, workshops, family activities, trips, and volunteer opportunities. The project was registered as a charity with the Charities Commission in 1998; Registered Charity No: 1072190. From 2013-2017 the project is funded by The Big Lottery, Reaching Communities fund. Our vision is to improve life chances and support families from dependence to independence. The Red Hen Project supports families to enable them to develop independent support strategies. Support strategies include; improved parenting and life skills, confidence, reduced isolation and positive engagement with education, giving the community the capacity and resilience to tackle the roots of social problems at the earliest opportunity. The Red Hen Project focuses on the individual needs of each child and their families, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. We prioritise one-to-one support, complemented by peer support, and help families to become independent. This may include addressing behaviour difficulties, reluctance to attend school, routines, accessing out of school activities, problems with housing, benefits, debts, relationship breakdown, domestic violence, or anything else that is making life difficult for children and parents.