Swan Family Centres in Bedford and Brixton have been awarded NACCC’s enhanced accreditation for supervised contact. Children having supervised contact at these centres are given a ‘Life Story’ booklet which follows them through their Contact journey at the centre. These booklets allow the children to maintain memories of their contact experience and ensure that these memories are treasured for them and they can look at them later in life and remind them of the positive experiences they had with family members whilst visiting the centre.
“The books are essential to ensuring that the children who use the centre are able to reflect on their experiences at the time and also look back at them later on in life…”
The Life Story booklet for children 
The books are designed for the children and are completed by the contact workers who support children through their supervised contact journey. They allow for staff to write down special memories that children experience whilst at the centre for example first birthdays, meeting family members for the first time, Christmas and other celebrations and other such happy memories. Photographs and drawings are also added to the books and the children take these with them once their journey has completed at the centre.
Lucy Glass, Divisional Manager for Swan Family told us:
“The Life Story books underpin the main purpose of our service, which is to provide positive and safe contact environments that are child centred and aid development. The books are essential to ensuring that the children who use the centre are able to reflect on their experiences at the time and also look back at them later on in life”.
