The Champions Support Network (CSN) is a LifeLine Projects programme designed to support parents and carers of young people, particularly during challenging times. It offers a local support network led by Champion Peer Mentors (parents and carers from the community who have relevant lived experience and training). These mentors guide participants through navigating systems, sharing practical advice and emotional support.
The CSN also runs support workshops on topics such as self-esteem, communication, conflict, change, resilience, belonging, mental health and more. Participants can attend regular meetups to share their stories with others facing similar pressures and build mutual support. In addition, the CSN delivers in-depth training via specialist providers around issues directly relevant to young people’s wellbeing, such as youth violence, exploitation, stop and search, substance misuse, and gang involvement.
Currently, support via the CSN is available in Barking and Dagenham, Havering, and Redbridge. It aims to be a dependable structure that parents and carers can lean on when times get tough.
When Wendy† joined the Champions Support Network, she was carrying heavy burdens. As a single mother, the fallout of domestic violence had left her feeling silenced, isolated, and overwhelmed all while trying to care for her child. At the end of her journey, she wrote to us of her experiences.
From her first meetings with the Network, Wendy was open and candid about how the abuse had affected her:
“I speak as a single woman. With a child, you’re on your own, and sometimes your voice is silenced. Domestic violence can either break you, shape you, or make you.”
“Domestic violence takes away your self-esteem, it takes away your mental health, and most of all, it isolates you. Those who are close to you are too opinionated and those who aren’t are too judgemental. A stigmatised soul is what one becomes, sadly.”
“Our children, too, experience the side-effects and trauma associated with domestic violence, either by witnessing it directly or through its aftermath.”
Turning to LifeLine
Wendy discovered LifeLine Projects via social media, and reaching out marked a turning point. She described that moment as a lifeline in itself:
“LifeLine Projects has been like a safety line to get me help. For me, my experience is like my soul dying with no hope but then being brought back to life through LifeLine Projects.”
“The support networks and their confidential ways are important. The support workers do not know how much strength and impact they give us just by listening. The safe space gives opportunity for parents to deal with our ups and downs.”
Through the CSN, Wendy was able to access the confidential support, peer mentoring, and workshops that gradually gave her room to breathe again.
Crisis and rebuilding
Wendy later recounted one of her lowest moments, when she and her son lost their home and all their belongings:
“During the worst time, me and my son became homeless. We lost all our belongings. It was part of a cycle of contacting my ex, who used coercive behaviour and stalked me. Being isolated and broke, I was so desperate I wanted to plead with him for help. But I didn’t—instead I fell on the lap of LifeLine Projects.”
Even in that desperate season, Wendy chose the support of the CSN rather than returning to a harmful relationship. That decision marked the beginning of a slow, painful, but hopeful reconstruction of her life.
Strength for her children
Wendy emphasises that the support she received through the CSN didn’t just benefit her, it empowered her children too:
“LifeLine hasn’t just helped me. It’s given my kids, especially my son, the strength to believe in himself through mentorship. My kids use the opportunities provided by LifeLine Projects to turn their negatives into positives. They do this through boxing, drama, and dance, rather than holding on to the trauma and anger that can lead to knife crimes.”
Those activities became outlets for healing, self-expression and growth. Through mentoring and positive opportunities, her children found alternative pathways to rise above hurt.
Looking ahead
Wendy knows her journey is not over. Yet, today, she faces the future with renewed strength and hope rather than fear and silence.
She ended with this reflection:
“With the helpings of interventions, LifeLine Projects has helped so many of us parents and children.”
Her story illustrates the impact of the Champions Support Network—a programme that doesn’t just offer help in crisis, but builds dignity, community, and long-term resilience. By weaving together peer support, training, safe spaces, and mentoring, the CSN gives families like Wendy’s a way to move from survival to strength.