Introduction

The Family Hubs can help link families to local services and provide a wide range of information and advice including:

  • Financial help and benefits
  • Funding for essential items
  • Getting into work and training
  • Childcare and childcare funding

Send an email to familyhubs@brighton-hove.gov.uk or phone 01273 293 545 for help and advice. 

Help if English is not your first language

Sussex Interpreting Service (SIS)

SIS offers free help, support and information in other languages:

The Black and Minority Ethnic Community Partnership (BMECP)

BMECP is a resource centre for the Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community in Brighton and Hove. They also offer a food bank for people in crisis and drop-in advice sessions.

Voices in Exile (VIE)

VIE supports refugees, asylum seekers and those with no recourse to public funds. They offer immigration and general advice, a food bank and help for people applying to the EU settlement scheme.

Urgent help and food banks

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Local Discretionary Social Fund (LDSF)

The LDSF can help with vouchers if you have an emergency, such as no food, or gas or electricity or if you need essential items for your home. They may also be able to help with the costs involved in moving home. You may be asked to provide bank statements for the last 30 days.

COVID-19 Help Directory

Find help with food, shopping and getting medicine, or if you are feeling worried or isolated.

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership

Information about food banks and other emergency food provision in Brighton & Hove.

Children’s safety or welfare

If you are worried about the safety of a child or young person, you should call Brighton & Hove City Council’s Front Door for Families to discuss your concerns.

If a child or young person is in danger or at immediate risk of harm, always call 999.

Outside of office hours, phone the Emergency Duty Team on 01273 335 905 or 01273 335 906.

Where to get advice

Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)

The Citizens Advice Bureau helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, impartial, confidential and independent information and advice.

Money and benefits

Family Finance factsheet

The Family Information Service has produced a factsheet that outlines the main sources of financial help for families. You can find it on the home page of the Family Services Directory.

Moneyworks

Moneyworks provides money and debt advice to residents of Brighton and Hove including help with budgeting, paying for fuel, rent and council tax and anyone generally struggling to manage their money. 

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Welfare Rights Service

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Welfare Rights Service Offers advice about benefits entitlements and appealing benefits decisions. The helpline is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 10am to 1pm.

Finding work

Help with moving from benefits into work

The Jobcentre can offer a range of support to help people get into work, training and volunteering as well as help for people who want to become self-employed. You can also phone them on 0800 055 6688.

Making A Difference

If you are unemployed and looking after a family it can be hard to overcome the challenges involved in finding a job. Making a Difference offers 1-2-1 support at a time to suit you.

From CV reviews, interview skills, work experience to confidence workshops, they can support you for up to four months for FREE. They could even help out with the costs of childcare and clothing for interview purposes.

Appointments can either be remotely or face to face.

Contact Making a Difference via your National Careers Adviser, or on the email or phone number below.

Housing / homelessness

Brighton & Hove City Council Housing Service

For advice about housing, including rent arrears, eviction and risk of homelessness.

Shelter

Shelter has a helpline for urgent housing advice, if you have nowhere to sleep or are facing homelessness. The helpline is normally open all year round from 8am-8pm on weekdays and 9am–5pm at weekends.

  • phone: 0808 800 4444

Brighton Housing Trust (BHT)

BHT offers advice and support for people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness and people with complex needs.

The Youth Advice Centre (YAC)

YAC provides housing advice for young people aged up to 25.

Health providers

GPs and Dentists

Find a doctor or dentist on the NHS Website.

Walk in GP Service

Brighton Station Health Centre on Queens Road offers a walk-in GP service, open every day including weekends, 8am to 8pm.

Late Night Chemists

You can find your nearest chemist or pharmacy on the NHS website.

Physical activities

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Healthy Lifestyles Team

The Healthy Lifestyles team offer a wide range of free or subsidised healthy lifestyle programmes and advice. Focussing on things that are important to you, they offer tailored support to help you or your family improve your health and wellbeing by:

  • Moving more and increasing physical activity
  • Eating well
  • Stopping smoking
  • Drinking less alcohol
  • Improving your general wellbeing

Making small changes now can improve your health right away and the team are committed to supporting everyone in the city who would like to make changes to their lifestyles. You can contact the team to discuss any disabilities or barriers that you may face in accessing health lifestyle services and to find out more about what is on offer.

City leisure and activity providers

You can view activity providers in the city in our directory.

You can find the city’s Leisure centres and sports facilities on our website. This includes updates about government guidance on the reopening of leisure facilities such as pools and gyms. There is also information about the cities Leisure Card and Free Swimming programme for under 16s.

Healthy eating

What we eat can play an important role in determining our health. Children especially need good nutrition for growth and development. Encouraging healthy eating early in life can influence our health during adulthood. The Eatwell Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy balanced diet. You do not need to achieve this balance with every meal, but try to get the balance right over a day or even a week. Take a look at The Eatwell Guide for more information.

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Healthy Food Project Officer is supporting families, carers and providers with practical healthy eating advice during the HAF (Holiday Activity and Food) programme. Please send an email to Martina.Gregori@brighton-hove.gov.uk if you have any further questions.

Mental Health

Urgent mental health support for adults

Urgent mental health support for adults The Mental Health Rapid Response Service (MHRRS) provides support for people who feel at risk to themselves and/or others or if someone feels concerned that a person is at risk to themselves and/or others due to their mental health.

If someone is at immediate risk of taking their own life, harming others, or is showing severe psychotic symptoms call 999.

  • phone: 0300 304 0078

Sussex Mental Health Hotline

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides a 24/7 service to people needing urgent help with their mental health. The team can offer advice and support to callers experiencing a crisis in their mental health, and if needed can refer them to one of five newly created urgent help hubs for assessment and treatment.

  • phone: 0300 5000 101

Children and Adults Wellbeing Service

Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service is an NHS Primary Care service supporting people aged 4 years upwards. They offer a range of mental health support for issues such as low mood, stress, anxiety and depression.

UOK

UOK offers support and advice about community services that can support your mental health and wellbeing. Contact them if you’re not sure who to speak to about your mental health or wellbeing.

MIND

If you have a mental health problem, or know someone who does, MIND offers a wide range of support, including mental health tips sheet on their website.

Domestic abuse

The National Domestic Violence helpline

  • phone: 0808 2000 247

RISE

Sussex based charity supporting anyone affected by domestic abuse. RISE offers a helpline service from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

 

Advice and support for parents

Parenting support and Triple P

Family Hubs provide Triple P parenting programmes/parenting advice and support to parents and carers with children up to the age of 18.

Find information on a range of courses and workshops. Find information on a range of courses and workshops. You can also send an email to familyhubs@brighton-hove.gov.uk or phone 01273 293 545.

Relationship difficulties

Living with tension or conflict between their parents can put children in a difficult position. Improving how you communicate with your partner, or ex-partner, could have a positive impact on your child’s mental health and success at school.

There are a range of groups, online courses and resources to learn new ways to argue less and communicate better with either your partner or ex-partner. There is also an online questionnaire to help you work out which of these options is right for you.

The Family Hubs have produced a factsheet that covers all aspects of family breakdown, including where to seek legal advice and how to make arrangements for children. You can find it on the home page of the Family Services Directory.

Family Lives

Family Lives is a confidential telephone helpline and online chat service that is there is listen to any issues that parents have and give them time and space to talk.

Support for parents with children under five

Family Hubs offer a wide range of support and advice to parents over the telephone and online.

To access support, you can:

  • text the Healthy Child Programme Parent Line on 07769 621584, open from 9:30am to 3:30pm
  • speak to your Health Visitor, or another professional working with your family
  • if your child attends a council nursery, you can speak to one of the staff

You can also find information about lots of activities to do with your child online and details about how to get in touch with your local family hub.

Support for children with SEND

Brighton & Hove Local Offer

The Local Offer brings together information about the help and support available locally for children with SEND and their families. It covers health, education, social care and leisure and more.

Amaze

Amaze is a local charity that can offer a wide range of support for parents of children with SEND including advice on applying for disability benefits.

Support for young people

Where to go for

The Where to go for website was developed by YMCA Right Here, an award winning, youth-led, young people’s project. The website is the place to search for services for young people aged 12-25 in Brighton & Hove. It covers a wide range of issues, from housing and money to counselling and activities and much more in between!

The Mix

The Mix is a national charity that provides confidential support for young people. They provide a helpline, live messaging service and counselling sessions for young people needing help with their mental health and wellbeing.

Brighton and Hove Healthy Child Programme School Nursing Team

The School Nurse team offer confidential support and advice on a whole range of health issues to children and young people aged 11 to 19 years old.

School Nurses provide a service that aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and will work with young people to support their understanding of healthy relationships and making safe choices.

All secondary schools in Brighton and Hove have a named School Nurse. The School Nurse visits their secondary school weekly and runs a drop in – no appointments are necessary.

School Nurses also run out of school drop-ins in various sites in the evening across Brighton & Hove.

For details of school or out of school drop-ins phone 01273 696 011, ext 1692. A School Nurse is on duty Monday to Friday from 9 to 5pm.

School Nurses also offer a texting service called Chat Health. You can text a nurse on 07480 635423 for advice and support and will receive a response within one working day.

Items for babies and children

Pelican Parcels

Pelican Parcels is a local charity that provides good quality new and used items for babies and young children. To receive a Pelican Parcel, you need to be referred by a professional working with your family such as a social worker, health visitor or staff member at your children’s centre. If you are not sure who could refer you, contact the Family Information Service who can offer you advice.

School uniform

Many schools can offer help with school uniform, ask a member of staff at your child’s school. Help is also available from the local Smarter Uniforms project.

Brighton Unemployed Family Centre Project

The centre usually has a range of donated goods that they give away including clothes, household items, toys and baby equipment. They also have cheap washing machines and dryers that you can use when booked.

Helplines

Samaritans

Samaritans help and support people in a crisis 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Possability People

Possability People provides free, independent information and support to disabled people and their carers, families and friends.

Cruse Bereavement Care

Cruse helps those missing someone, whether they died recently or many years ago.

  • phone: 0808 808 1677

Rape crisis

Offers confidential help and emotional support to girls and women aged 13+ who have survived any form of sexual violence, no matter how long ago. Open from midday to 2:30pm and 7pm to 9:30pm.

  • phone: 0808 802 9999

LGBT+ Switchboard

A one-stop listening, information and advice service for the LGBT+ community. Open from 10am to 10pm all year round.

  • phone: 01273 204 050