1:1 family support
Support for parents, carers and children with additional support needs, in the family home or our community flat.
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Brighter
Peer support · A space to be you again
Brighter
Beginnings.
A 10-week peer support group for parents and carers in the north east of Glasgow who care for children and young people with additional support needs (ASN).
Come together to give and receive emotional, social and practical support. Shared experiences. Understanding faces. A little time for you.
Opens our ASN Peer Support Group registration form on Jotform.
Supported through funding awarded by The National Lottery.
10weeks of peer supportMeet weekly, for up to 10 weeks
1:1support for your familyPractical and emotional support
A spaceto feel understoodPeer led, with a Geeza Break facilitator
You’re welcome here
Who can join?
Parents and carers living in the north east of Glasgow, with children or young people in their care who have additional support needs.
How to join
Parents and carers can refer themselves directly or be referred through a multi-agency referral. Use our registration form to tell us about your family and the support you need.
Register for Brighter BeginningsThe registration form opens on Jotform. Need help completing it? Call 0141 573 2900
Upcoming groups
Check our Facebook page for announcements about new Brighter Beginnings sessions.
See upcoming groups on FacebookPrefer to speak to someone? Call our team for the latest group information.
About Brighter Beginnings
Support for you.
Care for your family.
A welcoming group, with wraparound support beyond the weekly sessions.
Brighter Beginnings is a 10-week peer support group for parents and carers living in the north east of Glasgow who care for children and young people with additional support needs. The informal group meets weekly for up to 10 weeks. Geeza Break offers practical and emotional support, along with training opportunities throughout the programme.
We also provide a platform for other services and organisations to share information about the support they can offer.
The group is led by parents and carers and facilitated by a member of the Geeza Break team. Discussions and training opportunities are shaped by the group.
We also offer wraparound support in the family home or in our community flat, which has its own private sensory room. This includes one-to-one support for parents and carers, as well as support for their child with additional support needs.
Where appropriate, we offer respite services for children in the family who do not have additional support needs. Care plans are tailored to each child’s individual needs, giving them a much-needed break from their caring role within the family.
More than a weekly group
Support that goes a little further.
A private sensory room
Access to a bespoke sensory room within our community flat as part of the support offered to your family.
Respite provision
Where appropriate, respite for children in the family who do not have additional support needs, with individual care plans.
Hear from our families
The difference support makes.
From a listening ear to practical family support, hear what Brighter Beginnings means to the parents and carers who come to us.
A family’s story
Robyn’s experience of Brighter Beginnings
Hear Robyn share her experience of the group in this illustrated interview.
Press play to listen. You can pause, adjust the volume or view the video full screen using the player controls.
Find support for your familyMore voices from our community
This group has given me a safe space to talk about how my week has been and how I feel.
It has been a supporting group, I come in stressed and leave feeling better because of the help and support give from the other ladies and staff.
I look forward to this group every week, it is just for me, not having to worry about my kids.
This group is definitely needed.
TraceyBrighter Beginnings parent
Geeza Break peer support group has been a great outlet for the emotional stress of caring for 3 children on the spectrum. Knowing that I am not alone, and we are able to support and listen to each other.
I also want to take this opportunity to say when they were younger the children enjoyed the respite service and being a single mum with no family support, this service saved my sanity.
I just wish the ASN group lasted longer than the ten weeks as the challenges we face don’t disappear once the course ends. I am thankful to have met a group of amazing mums and Sam who runs the group. It has been a life saver.
SiobhanBrighter Beginnings parent
This group has become so important to me. The Geeza Break staff are incredible, so understanding, supportive, and so helpful.
The support group provides such a safe place to be vulnerable. I’ve met some really amazing women who offer support & advice.
It is so so important to know we aren’t alone as parenting an ASN child can be so isolating. The support and understanding I’ve been shown from this group & the staff will never be forgotten.
Thank you so much Geeza Break
HeatherBrighter Beginnings parent
The group has been a great support network for myself having other mum’s in the same position as yourself understanding the daily battles, the meltdowns and understanding how lonely it can be raising a child with ASN.
Coming to the group helps so much, I get to be Robyn again, I can talk about my struggles without being judged and the girls are there to cheer me on when I have made progress.
This group has brough a group of mums together which I am sure will be forever friends now.
I will be sad when our block is finished but I know that this will have a great impact for any other groups that start.
RobynBrighter Beginnings parent
I am so grateful for this service, I have gained a lot of confidence from coming to the group. There Is no judgement as parents are experiencing the same situations.
I think this service should be made available to all parents with children on the spectrum. If this service had been available back when my daughter was diagnosed, I would have had a different journey.
The team do an amazing job so supportive and welcoming, make you feel at ease.
StaceyBrighter Beginnings parent
I saw the ASN group online and thought I could give it a go. I was not sure on what I am going to meet, but since I have joined, I have never regretted.
The families I have met are so friendly, including the staff, they care so much for everyone and look after everyone.
I was struggling last week. I went in late and left early but the amazing thing is I was called by the office, and the group also check in on me through WhatsApp. I was so happy I have people who care so much about me and are really happy to support.
I was invited to the office immediately to have a chat and also to help with a solution and a lot more.
I have the opportunity to learn from other people’s experience and how to improve myself. I was able to get answers to some of my worries. I can not tell all of my achievements in a short period of time but to say thank you to Geeza Break and everyone in the group. I hope this could still continue even if it was once a month.
RamatBrighter Beginnings parent
Illustrative avatars by DiceBear / Open Peeps.
Find out more
Talk to our team about support for your family.