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Highland children’s charity CHIP+ gets a branding makeover to become Thriving Families


By Val Sweeney

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The Thriving Families team.
The Thriving Families team.

An award-winning charity which helps families with children with additional support needs has been relaunched with a new name.

Thriving Families, formerly known as CHIP+, aims to be the “go-to” organisation for improving the lives of families in Highland.

The organisation, originally founded in 1993, also helps professionals working with families.

The renamed charity received an award at the recent Highland Third Sector Awards for its partnership work with two other organisations to develop digital resources and online support sessions for families of children with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Thriving Families chief officer Sarah Fowler said: “We are all living through an incredibly difficult time and charities like ours have never been more needed.

“We were determined to create something positive this year and felt that a new name that better reflects what we do every day would help us to reach more people.”

Chairwoman of the Thriving Families board, Ann Darlington, said it was exciting to be launching the charity into a new era.

“I know that our brilliant team will build on past successes, rise to new challenges and reach out across the Highlands to offer support that will improve the lives of families,” she said.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament calling on MSPs to recognise and commend the charity for its vital work to reduce isolation and provide support.

“For almost a year now, families throughout Scotland have been facing increased pressures and the loss of support networks as we have had to adapt to Covid restrictions,” she said.

“Never is this more extreme than in families who are supporting children with Additional Support Needs.

“Even before Covid-19 lockdowns, these families were at a higher risk of isolation and fighting pressures some of us couldn’t even imagine.

“But with governments scrambling to keep up with an unpredictable pandemic, the risk of such families falling between the cracks was immense.”


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