Information about the resource material available and prices is listed below. Payment can be made by cheque. Alternatively the Centre will be happy to issue an invoice and to accept official order forms. Payment is appreciated within 30 days. Order form as pdf available here .

Summary of Resources

1.Booklets £5.00 each
The Centre has produced the following comprehensive range of booklets to cover most of the skill and practice areas that are relevant to staff running group work programmes:

Planning a Fun and Families Group
Offers a planning checklist for staff who want to set up a group. Deals with practical matters, including the race, gender and disability issues that need to be addressed.

Living with Teenagers: a Bridge over Troubled Waters.
A practical guide to help parents and young people sort out their disagreements.

Working Together
A step-by-step guide for parents and professionals on strategies to help parents increase desirable behaviour and decrease unwanted behaviour. Available in Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi and Welsh.

Basics of Social Learning Theory
A straightforward, 'jargon free', description of the theoretical model used in the group work programme run by the Centre.

Parent Support Groups
A description of the self help support group that has developed for parents, who have taken part in the Centre's group work programme.

Evaluation: Increasing Effectiveness in Work with Children and Families
Offers a range of methods for evaluating both group and individual work with families.

An Introduction to Cognitive Behavioural work
More advanced theory to assist group leaders see how parent's thoughts and feelings can affect how they respond to their children or young people.

Group work Skills: Giving Structure to Groups
A review of the skills required to run Fun and Families Groups. Deals with the tasks and roles of Group Leaders, effective group interventions and dealing with problems.

Anti-Discriminatory Practice
Offers ideas on how to ensure that groupwork services can be offered to all members of your local community. It includes a case study on the practical application of these ideas to the Centre's development of services to the Asian community in Leicester.

Working with Parents with Children with Disabilities
This booklet should be used in conjunction with the guidance offered in 'Promoting Positive Parenting' and provides ideas about adapting the groupwork programme to meet the specific needs of parents with children with disabilities.

Games and Exercises used in a Fun and Families Group
Gives details of all the games and exercises, including the learning objectives.

I've Tried That and It Doesn't work
Offers suggestions and advice to professionals to help overcome that "stuck" feeling, which we all experience sometimes when working with families.

These booklets are an invaluable resource because they are:

• Readable and inexpensive
• Can be used by staff undertaking individual work with families
  
  

2."Promoting Positive Parenting" £16.50

A book written by the Centre staff, which was published in August 1995. This book is designed as a guide for professional staff who want to run Fun and Families Groups.

Part 1 of the book gives information about the background of the Centre for fun and Families. Part 2 covers the theoretical background including issues related to empowerment, anti-discriminatory practice, social learning theory, the role of cognitive behavioural theory, groupwork skills and giving structure to groups for parents. Part 3 of the book gives a complete guide to each of the sessions of the 7 week programme. Part 4 discusses issues related to evaluation and the setting up of parent support groups. The final part offers further information about the Centre's resources and plans for future developments within the Centre.

3."Promoting Positive Parenting of Teenagers" £19.00

This book, written by Centre staff, was published in October 1998. It addresses the particular problems and challenges, which are associated with living with teenagers and provides a practical guide for how to undertake a groupwork programme for parents of teenagers.

Part 1 of the book gives information about the background of the Centre for Fun and Families. Part 2 deals with the theoretical background to practice including issues of empowerment and anti-discriminatory practice, social learning theory, resolving family conflict, the role of cognitive behavioural theory and groupwork skills. Part 3 gives a complete guide to the 7 week Living with Teenagers programme. Part 4 discusses follow up work after the group and includes information about evaluation, parent support groups and future developments for the Centre.

4.Video and Audio Material

The Centre makes considerable use of video recording as a way of helping parents develop their parenting skills. Video and audio material is also used as a means of making the group work programme more interesting for parents. Using a video can be an invaluable means of generating discussion amongst parents within the group setting. The following video and audio tape is available from the Centre:

5.Training Packs for Group Leaders £17.00
Packs are available to assist staff involved in setting up and running both 'Fun and Families' and 'Living with Teenagers' and "Avoiding Conflict with Adults" groups. They provide invaluable material, such as handouts for parents and guidance for group leaders on some of the practical issues involved in running a group. They provide a week-by-week guide to each session of the group specifically for leaders. The packs also give information about ways of evaluating the effectiveness of the group. The Fun and Families Pack is available in Gujarati.

6.Individual Work Pack £5.00
This pack is designed to allow workers to use the Centre's Group Work Programme by doing 7 weekly visits to the family home.

7.Fun Stickers and Album £2.50
The fun stickers provide a positive way of helping parents to get the fun back into caring for their children. The stickers and album have been designed especially for the Centre for Fun and Families for use by parents undertaking the group work programmes. Each pack contains 2 sets of fun stickers, two albums and guidance for parents on their use.

8.Dick Beak's Parent's Guide £8.00

Dick Beak, who was one of the original Centre Co-founders, wrote the material in this guide. Dick sadly died in 1998 and in memory of his major contribution to the work of the Centre, The Parent's Guide has now been professionally printed and published in a booklet form. The guide is intended for use by parents involved in the 'Fun and Families' groupwork programme and takes parents through the ideas presented in this particular course. There is a pocket at the back, where handouts from the group can be kept in a safe place. A Fun Sticker and Album Pack and a copy of the booklet "Working Together" is included with the guide, representing excellent value for money. Parents themselves have found this to be a very useful resource, particularly when the group has finished.

9.Literacy Pack £32.50
This pack is designed to allow workers to run either the Fun & Families or Living with Teenagers Group Work Programme for families with literacy difficulties. It includes a complete guide on how to use the pictorial or diagrammatic material or audio tape as an alternative to the written exercises. The pack contains a guide, Working Together booklet and audio tape, with either a Fun and Families or Living with Teenagers Trainers Pack and a pack of diagrammatic and pictorial handouts.

10.Research Publications
The Centre has a number of research publications available. These include:

• A summary of a PhD Research study about the effectiveness of Fun and Families Groups carried out by Dr. Andy Gill.
• A research study by Rita Naag on the effectiveness of Groups for parents with children with disabilities.
• An independent research study by Nottingham University on the outcomes of running Fun and Families Groups in Family Centres in Nottingham.

These are available from the Centre on request. A small charge is made to cover the cost of photocopying and postage and packaging.

centre@funandfamilies.org.uk

The Centre for Fun and Families 177/179 Narborough Road Leicester LE3 0PE Tel: 0116 223 4254