Support Children with Parents in Prison with School Kits for the New Year

You would think that when Mama or Papa comes home from prison, the hardest part is over. The family is together again. The child has their parent back. But it doesn’t always work like that. A lot can happen while a parent is away. A child grows up. Someone else packs their school bag, comforts them when they’re upset, celebrates their birthdays and becomes the person they turn to every day. So when Mama or Papa comes home months or even years later, they may love each other deeply, but they also have to get to know each other again. It can be hard for the parent too. There’s the guilt of everything they missed, the awkwardness of not quite knowing where they fit anymore, and the realisation that being released from prison is one thing, but becoming someone your child can depend on again takes time. One of our Mamas once told us: “I tell myself, no, I cannot give up. This is my daughter. I must make sure my daughter knows me, I’m her mommy.” – Sarah (not her real name), NLS Mama That stayed with us because having a relationship with their child can give a parent something important to keep showing up for. Birthdays they don’t want to miss, ordinary days they want to be around for, and a relationship they don’t want to lose again. And there’s something important in this for the child too. Research looking at children affected by parental incarceration has found that closeness with their parents can be a protective factor against some behavioural difficulties.* That’s one reason we care so much about rebuilding these relationships, where it is safe and appropriate. At New Life Stories, we support parents with the difficult work of reconnecting with their children, through parenting and emotional support, family work and opportunities to spend time together. Because having Mama or Papa physically home is one thing. Having a parent who listens, keeps their promises, knows what is happening in your life and gradually becomes someone you can depend on again is another. Your donation helps make that work possible. It helps give families the time and support they need to rebuild what incarceration may have disrupted. We can’t give a child the years they lost with their parent. But we can help families work towards something better for the years ahead: school mornings together, birthdays, conversations before bed, hugs, difficult conversations and ordinary afternoons with Mama or Papa simply being there. This isn’t only about giving a parent a second chance. It’s about helping that second chance make a difference to their child too. Help a child get their parent back. *Source: 2023 systematic review of 61 studies examining parental incarceration and child wellbeing, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The end of the year is often a season children look forward to. School holidays, festive celebrations, family outings and, before long, the excitement of starting a new school year. But someone has to make all of that happen. Behind many of the children we support is a caregiver thinking about what to do during the school holidays, making festive plans, keeping the children occupied, and then getting everything ready for a brand new school year. For caregivers in families affected by incarceration, many of whom have stepped in to care for a child when a parent cannot, it can be an especially tiring season. And somewhere in all that caring, there can be very little time left for themselves. Sometimes, what a caregiver needs isn't another thing to do. It's simply a few hours where they don't have to be the one taking care of everyone else. That's something we intentionally make space for through our Blessed Mums caregiver sessions. Childminding is provided at each session, so caregivers can have a proper break knowing the children are safe and cared for nearby. For those few hours, they can enjoy a meal with other caregivers who understand, bake, try a craft, learn something new or simply sit and have a conversation without having to keep one eye on the children. Your donation can give a caregiver those few hours. A few hours to rest. To enjoy themselves. To talk to another adult. To do something simply because they enjoy it. It might sound like a small thing. But when so much of your time is spent caring for everyone else, a few hours that belong to you can mean a lot. And when caregivers have the chance to rest, recharge and feel supported, they can return to the children who depend on them with a little more in their own cup. This busy season, give a caregiver something they so rarely get: time for themselves. 💛

Give a Child Something to Look Forward to This Christmas 🎄 You know that feeling as a child when there was something coming up that you just couldn’t wait for? Maybe it was Christmas morning. A family outing. Opening a present. Or simply knowing there was going to be something special that week. We want the children we support to have those moments too. Last year, New Life Stories supported 153 children affected by parental incarceration. For some of them, having a parent in prison means growing up with experiences they never chose: separation from someone they love, changes at home, financial pressures, or simply noticing that their family looks a little different from everyone else’s. Christmas can make some of those differences feel especially noticeable. But here’s the part you can be part of. Your donation can put something good on a child’s calendar. It can mean a festive activity to look forward to, books and learning materials, school essentials for the year ahead, or a family learning journey where they get to spend a day making happy memories with the people caring for them. And these experiences sit within something much bigger. Through our Family Strengthening Programme, we work with children, parents and caregivers throughout the year, helping children learn, build trusted relationships, stay connected to family and have the support they need to move forward. In 2025, 80% of the children we supported showed improvement in literacy. Because a child cannot choose whether their parent goes to prison. But together, we can help shape what happens next. When you give to New Life Stories this Christmas, you’re not simply paying for an activity or buying a child something nice. You’re becoming part of the support system around a child. You’re helping give them opportunities, experiences and people in their corner that remind them their circumstances do not have to decide their future. This Christmas, sponsor a fairer start for a child. 💛

When a parent is incarcerated, children often face separation, stigma, and instability in their lives. Many are cared for by relatives who step up selflessly but are stretched thin and struggle to meet every need. That’s where New Life Stories steps in. Through our Family Strengthening Programme, we support children, parents, and caregivers in rebuilding trust, healing broken bonds, and breaking the cycle of intergenerational incarceration. Our approach focuses on reconnection and providing a sense of trust and belonging rather than merely correcting behaviour. This motivates parents to stay out of prison, and prevents children from repeating a cycle. Your donation helps us create brighter childhoods and more resilient families through befriending, weekly reading sessions, learning journeys, workshops, and plenty more resources that restore hope and joy. Safe, loved and seen: that's what we believe each and every child deserves. Even when life takes a sudden, difficult turn, it is our job to remind every child that they are not forgotten.