Being a parent can be difficult. Sleepless nights, money worries, the feeling that you’re doing something wrong, or simply not knowing what you’re doing at all. At Home-Start Lambeth, we see every day how much this can affect a parent’s mental wellbeing. Parents’ mental health is very important to us. We speak up about it and treat it as an ongoing part of how we deliver our service. Because when we help a parent feel better, we’re not just supporting them, we’re supporting the whole family.
Since August 2025, we’ve been using a short questionnaire called WEMWBS (the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale) to help us do this. Families fill it in when they start getting support from us, and again at the end of support. It helps us understand how someone is doing, and whether our support is making a real difference. It’s used by the NHS and councils across the country, so we know it’s a trusted way to understand how people really feel.
What families told us
The results so far are encouraging. When families started with us, over half were struggling with low wellbeing. By the time our support ended, that had dropped, and all families were now in the moderate or high wellbeing range.
The biggest changes? Families told us they felt more optimistic, more confident, and more connected to people around them. These are exactly the kinds of feelings that help parents cope with day-to-day and feel more able to take care of themselves and their families.
Why this matters
Tracking wellbeing this way helps us see what’s working, learn where we can do better, and make sure our support keeps meeting the real needs of families across Lambeth. It also means we’re not just assuming our support has a positive impact on parents’ mental health. We have real evidence that it does.
Thank you
This work wouldn’t be possible without funding from the Lambeth Mental Health Inequalities Fund. We’re grateful for their support in helping us understand and improve the wellbeing of the families we work with.