Parent-Infant Foundation awarded National Lottery funding to support families across Wales 

The Parent-Infant Foundation is delighted to announce it has been awarded National Lottery Funding to help develop more specialised parent-infant teams across Wales. 

The Foundation has successfully applied for just over £400,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund. The funding will support a three-year project aimed at further developing parent-infant relationship teams across all areas of Wales.  

There are currently only two specialised parent-infant teams in Wales, in Cardiff and Gwent, but there is an interest at a national policy level in the development of parent-infant relationship services and a small Parent-Infant Network group which meets regularly. This project aims to build on this interest to support further development of parent-infant teams, co-produced with parents across Wales to meet local needs.   
 
A key aim and outcome of the project is to have a parent-infant team in all seven health boards across the country by the end of the three years. Each team would directly support around 150 families per year and impact thousands more through their work. 
 
The different elements of the project will include a mapping exercise of existing Parent-Infant services across the nation, a parent consultation, building on and expanding the existing Parent-Infant network in Wales and increasing awareness and understanding of infant mental health more widely. The project will also be independently evaluated, once complete. 
 
Keith Reed, Chief Executive at the Parent-Infant Foundation said: 
 
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded this funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, and we’re excited about the potential impact for parent-infant relationship services in Wales.  
 
“We worked closely with our partners to apply for this crucial funding, and would like to thank them for their involvement and support. These relationships will be crucial for the project. We will also pilot new approaches to involving parents in service development. We aim to ensure that the project is embedded within the Welsh parent-infant services context and will be considered in national strategic decisions.   
 
 “With the aim of increasing the number of parent-infant teams in Wales, this funding enables us to guide and support services to create a long-lasting legacy for families. The potential impact is huge, as parent-infant teams can mean a better future for hundreds of babies and families across the country.” 
 
A spokesperson for the Parent-Infant Network Cymru said: 
 
“As a network, we are delighted that the Parent-Infant Foundation has been awarded funding from the National Lottery to improve parent-infant mental health support in Wales. We are very much looking forward to working closely together to increase awareness and understanding of parent-infant mental health and achieving our shared vision to have a specialist parent-infant relationship team in each area across Wales.”