Do you represent an organisation that might want to support Riverbank?
Delivering transformative impact in the lives of single mothers since 2011, Riverbank has grown to be increasingly relied upon by local government, schools, churches and other civil society agencies.
Read more about Riverbank, its work and its history here.
Impact Makers
Riverbank deeply values the generous support received from organisations - local, national and international - who have partnered in the charity’s legacy and impact.
Causes and Consequences of Single Motherhood
Single motherhood has no single cause. Bereavement is just one cause, as is relationship breakdown. And sometimes there never really was a fully functioning relationship.
Single motherhood often impacts a mother’s share of parenting responsibilities, her potential household income and her experience of emotional support and companionship. These circumstances often affect mental health, levels of loneliness and isolation.
Through our relationships with other local agencies and through our own experiences of working with vulnerable people, we learn all the time that every situation, every family, every child, every woman is unique. Each person has her or his own story.
Many of the stories we hear include sadness, joy, loss, grief and hope. They also may include addiction, violence, fear, poverty, homelessness and isolation to name just a few issues. The difficulties facing the vulnerable Mums we meet are wide ranging and complex. They are however unified by one simple fact…
…it’s made much harder by doing it alone.
“3 million children are being raised in single parent households in the UK. 90% of these households are headed by single women.”
We believe it is an injustice that any woman should have to parent alone with little or no support.
At Riverbank, we aim to meet this need.
“Of the 3 million children growing up in single parent families, one third have no meaningful relationship with their Dads.”
At Riverbank, we care about the whole family. And we believe that addressing the needs of the whole family ultimately create an environment for the greatest degree of long-term change.
Research shows that children growing up in vulnerable single parent families are more likely to struggle educationally and socially and to experience poor emotional health.
We are passionate about finding ways to help prevent these outcomes for children, and doing all that we can to support children who have experienced separation and loss through family breakdown.
Riverbank’s Service
Riverbank supports and equips vulnerable single mothers of all backgrounds and all faiths and none through long-term emotional and practical support in partnership with the church community.
Riverbank does this through one-to-one relationships, through Riverbank community groups and through Riverbank’s wider network partnerships. One-to-one relationship is established between each single mother and her Riverbank Outreach Worker. In view of Riverbank’s holistic approach to service, in many instances one-to-one relationship is also established between a Riverbank Outreach Worker and the child of a Riverbank single mother. In a growing number of schools Riverbank Outreach Workers deliver a classroom-based 10 unit emotional literacy syllabus bringing significant changes to children’s mental health and behaviour.
In the UK organisations serving vulnerable single mothers deliver support in a number of ways. Sometimes support is delivered by lobbying government to make laws that improve the circumstances of single mothers, sometimes support comes in the form of distributing money, and sometimes one-to-one befriending is delivered by volunteers. Each of these services is necessary. Riverbank’s service is on the ground, delivering emotional and practical support directly to each single mother as long as she needs and wants it. Volunteers serve an important role in the work of the charity. However, Riverbank serves vulnerable single mothers in some of the most complex of circumstances, and experience has demonstrated the importance of trained on-staff outreach workers to deliver core components of the service.
This mother’s life changed after coming to Riverbank. Read her story.
Christian Charities
Riverbank is a Christian charity serving vulnerable single mothers. Riverbank is proud of its Christian identity and heritage, and the charity is equally proud its services are unconditionally delivered to vulnerable single mothers from all backgrounds and from all faiths and none. Historically, Christian organisations played a valuable role in laying foundations for the UK’s charitable sector, and today they continue to play a valuable role in meeting the needs of individuals and communities in modern day Britain. The teachings of Jesus are the reason for Riverbank’s conviction that faith in Him is a free and personal choice, that every individual is unique, is made in the image of God, is designed for life in fulness, and is of immeasurable value as reflected in the immeasurable price paid by Jesus for every person. On our website you can read more about Riverbank’s Christian ethos as well as the unconditional nature of its service.
Strategic Development Plan for the road ahead
If you are an institutional funder interested to know about the charity’s plans for the road ahead, please feel free to get in touch and learn about Riverbank’s Strategic Development Plan.
Get In Touch About Funding
If you are interested in supporting Riverbank’s work, we would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us to discuss what you have in mind or just to learn more about the charity’s work. Riverbank organises site visits so potential supporters have opportunity to meet the team in person and to see some of our services in action. Thank you for your interest in the work of Riverbank!