Sleep is fundamental to a happy and healthy mind and body. A lot of people neglect it because they are simply too busy to fit in enough hours of sleep.  On the other hand they may see it as important, but simply struggle to get enough ‘quality sleep.’ I am hoping that this blog will remind you of the importance of sleep so that you can try and prioritise it a little more.

Keeping ourselves hydrated. Is it really that important? Is that the reason I am tired, grumpy, achey and unable to concentrate?

Confusion, tiredness, dark urine, dizziness, headaches, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, thirst or dry mouth.

Talia Loderick is a Money Coach, based in Cardiff. Talia offers one-to-one coaching helping women understand their emotions and beliefs around money so they can improve their behaviour with money, feel better and be better with money.

Talia also delivers financial education workshops to 11-19-year-olds in schools, colleges and community groups, helping young people build lifelong money-management skills.

There are various options when it comes to renting a home in Wales. You can rent from a social landlord, such as a housing association or a local authority; this is classed as social housing. Or you can rent from a private landlord, usually through a letting agent. 

Help to Buy- Wales

As mentioned in the introduction, Help to Buy in Wales is different to England. In England, you can get a house up to £600k on Help to Buy and in Wales, it has just been changed from £300k to £250k. Help to Buy is an equity loan and you can borrow up to 20% of the market value of a new home.

The challenge of affording suitable housing as a single parent is endless. All too often we are trapped in a cycle of trying to earn enough to get a mortgage and trying not to earn too much that you will lose the Universal Credit support towards your rent; never mind the waiting lists that we face to move into social housing. Ok, now I have finished ranting, ill move to the positives, there are in fact many initiatives in Wales that we can access as single parents, it is simply knowing about them.

Anon SPW member gives her honest and heart wrenching account of being with loving, and letting go an Alcoholic partner.

I have lived the life of ‘The Wife of an Alcoholic’ for many years. It’s not a moniker I would have chosen for myself, but it is who I have become. Now, it is an identity I want to shed. I have a mountain to climb to become ‘me’ again. I am rebuilding myself – my mind and body- from the ground up. 

Having goals particularly in business is important, they allow us to get clear on what we want to achieve and can provide us with a structure to develop a plan of action that we need to take in order to achieve them. They can also be our guide in times of change or when we go into overwhelm. 

Self-care is vital for any person in role that requires us to support another.  Having the ability to empathise on a deeper level is sometimes what drives us to these roles.  This means we are at a higher risk of burnout or compassion fatigue.  Knowing our limits is the key to preventing these from occurring.

Have you become aware that you are using alcohol or substances more frequently than you used to? Or perhaps you have noticed that you are thinking about alcohol or substances a lot over recent weeks or months.

Are you aware that you are withdrawing from your family or aware that you are becoming less open and truthful about how much you are drinking or using.

Mental health, is a statement that seems to be ever present at the moment, but what does that really mean?  Or maybe the question could be, what does it mean to you?

Please take a minute to think about what the term mental health means to you, maybe jot down what you would say if someone were to ask, 

“Hey, how is your mental health?”

Now, let’s start with what the definition is.

Domestic Abuse is a very topical subject, one where its unusual to find someone who doesn’t have knowledge of at least one other person whose life has been affected by domestic abuse.

If you are reading this blog you may feel that there is something not quite right in your relationship or in your home life. Maybe you are feeling stuck, afraid, worried…

If that’s the case, then read on, hopefully the content may help you to get some support, safety and to know that you are not alone.

This grey rock method has been tried and tested by one of our single parent members, who has summarised all the best bits from everything that she has read and put into practice. This amazingly powerful resource is for people dealing with difficult and toxic people and the writer found it invaluable along with the services of Atal y Fro.

Have you got fond memories of being read to, escaping into books or would you not be seen dead with a book in your hand?Whatever your experience, I can promise the benefits of reading together with your child far outweigh any negatives. This is why I wanted to start with why reading matters, before moving in to books I use in my Play Therapy practice and at home with my son. Reading means that children are introduced to people and families that do and don’t look like them. Their minds are broadened, their ideas sharpened and their potentials and possibilities unlocked. If you’re not a big reading fan, audio books TOGETHER and read aloud on YouTube (other streaming channels are available!) will have a similar effect.

At the beginning of 2019 we received funding from Comic Relief to kick start a venue for SPW and to create some workshops and activities to hold there. Of course Covid has put a spanner in the this, but we moved quickly and most of the workshops and social meet ups moved online. However, we did manage to hold some workshops and meet ups in our lovely ‘cwtch’.

We wanted to celebrate and tell you more information about Mental Health Foundation. We have partnered with MHF right from the start of SPW. They have really supported us to shape and move forward what we do with a focus on mental health. They really are the gurus of mental health in our eyes, and have so many great projects and ways to get involved. For mental health awareness week this year the theme is Nature and the Environment, which we can’t wait for!

We asked our amazing single parent members what advise they had for other single parents as we enter into the world of homeschooling again during this pandemic. We hope you will find comfort in their words of wisdom and be able to pick up some useful advise and resources. We’ve rounded them up into our 7 top tips. We have also included a section around the advise from teachers and for SEN children.

If you are nutty about branding like us then you will have seen that we have updated our whole brand, including new fonts, colours and of course amazing new logo.

Knowing how we can easily decide any need our child has as being directly linked to our relationship status, I shared some ideas and information about the outcomes of children from separated households and took questions from the group. Thank you all for being so open and bringing so much experience! What follows is a summary for anyone who might not have been able to come along.