Love Matters Isle of Wight

04/11/2026

If you are a parent make sure you check out the Pause App and post below from IW Family Information Hub

💙 Parenting doesn't come with a manual, and some days can feel tougher than others 💙

Pause Parenting is a free app designed to support parents and carers with practical, evidence-based tools, guidance, and activities to help navigate everyday family challenges. Developed with NHS trusts and local authorities, it's like having parenting support in your pocket whenever you need it.

Whether you're looking for ideas to manage difficult moments, support your child's wellbeing, or simply build confidence in your parenting journey, Pause could help.

29/10/2026

Take a look at what previous participants of Bringing Baby Home have said…

If you’re a parent or expectant parent or know a parent who could benefit from- please share!

The impact and love kindled through 5 weeks is incredible.

Message us to book or go to link in Bio…

Next course starts Tuesday 3 November! 8pm online.

Fully funded thanks to Isle of Wight Council

28/10/2026

Calling all dads! Fathers!

Too often dad’s voices are not heard in maternity and family services- but they need to be!

Our wonderful family centres are reaching out to listen…

Please tag a dad! Share this and complete this short survey for Isle of Wight Family Centres!

We think all parents are amazing and we want to hear what Fathers know and think about our service.
We are asking all Fathers (expecting ones as well!) to complete this short survey and help us shape our service for your future.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/pRce8dDP4Q

19/10/2026

Get ready!

Bringing Baby Home new course starting Tuesday 3rd November with Katie!

Having a baby changes everything, including your relationship. Between the sleepless nights, the mental load and the demands of family life, it’s easy to lose sight of each other.

Bringing Baby Home, developed by the Gottman Institute, is a programme designed to help couples navigate the transition to parenthood, strengthen their relationship and build a healthy, happy family life together.

Over five weeks you will learn practical ways to stay close, communicate, manage conflict, stay connected and support each other through one of life’s biggest transitions.

Because supporting parents and carers is part of supporting children!

📅 Starting 3rd November- 8-9.30pm online

Fully funded thanks to Isle of Wight Council

To book message us, drop a comment or go to link in Bio.

16/10/2026

Behind that statistic are real people trying to juggle the demands of parenting, relationships, work, family life and everything in between. Maybe it’s you?

Parents are often expected to be everything to everyone, but who is looking after them?

We talk a lot about supporting children’s wellbeing, but we can’t forget the people caring for them. Parents deserve support in their own right, too.

And when we support parents, strengthen relationships and create healthier family environments, we can also help create the conditions in which children thrive.

Yet our research also highlighted that cost can be a significant barrier to accessing support. Something we work hard for in offering much that is fully funded…

We believe support shouldn’t only be available when things reach crisis point. Parents deserve opportunities to feel heard, understood and supported before they reach breaking point.

Our mission is to make relationship and family support more accessible, helping parents nurture themselves, their relationships and the families they care for.

Because supporting parents is part of supporting children.

10/10/2026

Are you an organisation or small business that supports children or young people? Take a look at this fab opportunity to apply for grants up to £5000!

🔔The window to apply for funding through the Community Capacity Grant scheme is currently open! 🔔
Do you have an idea for a new group, club or activity that you feel will benefit local families? If so, you could apply for a grant to support with the set up and initial running costs.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to help local groups, clubs and organisations create new provisions that support positive outcomes for babies, children, young people and families living on the Island.

The main focuses for this round of grants are:
◾️Provision to support Perinatal Mental Health 0 to 2 years and their families
◾️Provisions for children aged 5 years to 11 years
◾️Provision for children ages 12 years and above
◾️Focusing on targeted youth support
◾️Provision to support Young Carers

Come along to one of the application support sessions. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and get support with the application process.

The first support session takes place on:
📅Saturday 17 October,
🕦11.30pm to 12.30pm
📍County Hall, Newport

Places are limited so please email [email protected] to book by 12noon Friday 16 October.
Can't make this session? Don’t worry, we are offering a further session on:

📅Wednesday 21 October
🕔5pm to 6pm
📍County Hall, Newport

❗ The deadline for applications is midday on Monday 26 October 2026❗

09/10/2026

As part of my counselling training, I’ve been exploring the emotional support needs of parents and carers. What I found has reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time.

Parenting can bring enormous joy and love, but also emotional distress, overwhelm, exhaustion and moments when we simply need someone to listen and understand.

Parents and carers want emotional support, yet the barriers to accessing it can be significant. Cost and childcare, in particular, can make getting the support we need feel almost impossible , especially when we’re already struggling.

My research also highlighted the importance of the relationship between a person and their counsellor. Feeling safe, heard, accepted and understood isn’t an optional extra. The relationship itself is a vital part of what makes emotional support meaningful.

And this is where my heart comes back to Love Matters. ❤️

I believe parents and carers are pivotal to the long-term health and wellbeing of their children. But we cannot keep asking parents to pour from an empty cup, or expect them to navigate the hardest parts of family life without support.

When we care for parents and carers, we are also caring for their children — and for the wellbeing of our wider society.

This is the dream behind Love Matters: to make compassionate, meaningful emotional support more accessible to parents and families. To create spaces where people feel accepted rather than judged, supported rather than fixed, and reminded that they don’t have to face everything alone.

My research has reminded me that this isn’t just a nice idea. There is a real need for it.

I don’t have all the answers yet, but I feel more determined than ever to keep building towards a future where emotional support is something families can genuinely access, not something they have to be privileged enough to afford.
Because love matters. Parents matter. And how we care for the people caring for our children matters, too.

I will unpack this more over the coming weeks… and also seek to signpost to wonderful support for parents locally and nationally…

05/10/2026

Some of you will already know Tash, but we wanted to properly reintroduce her as she becomes a bigger part of Love Matters.

Tash has recently completed the Gottman 7 Principles training alongside us and is now starting to offer 1:1 and 1:2 relationship sessions, as well as supporting the delivery of some of our courses and other Love Matters work.

Tash brings warmth, curiosity and a genuine passion for helping people feel heard and understood- values that are at the heart of everything we want Love Matters to be.

Love Matters isn’t about telling people how to have a “perfect” relationship or trying to fix them. It’s about creating a safe, compassionate space to understand ourselves, our partners and the patterns we can sometimes get caught in , and finding ways forward together.

So, welcome (back) Tash!

We’re really looking forward to seeing Love Matters grow and being able to offer more ways for people to access support, learning and connection.

CouplesSupport IsleOfWight