Föräldrakraft Receives Million in Funding from the Postcode Lottery

“The need for parental support is something we often encounter in our interactions with the young people in ‘ Erikshjälpen Framtidsverkstad,’” says Mattias Ingeson, Secretary-General for Erikshjälpen. Through Föräldrakraft , we are now finally getting the resources we need to work with parents as well. 

Every year, the Swedish Postcode Lottery's surplus is distributed to the non-profit organisations it works with. By far the largest part of this is unearmarked money, known as basic support. But in addition to the basic support, there are the Dream Projects. A Dream Project always has a specific focus, such as one of the UN's global sustainability goals.

Want to contribute to safe families

Erikshjälpen’s goal with the four-year project “Föräldrakraft” is to help create safe and stable families. No matter where they live, parents should be able to support their children as they face challenges in school and in life.

A secure start lays the foundation for a child’s entire life, and caregivers play a crucial role in children’s development and life choices. Healthy family relationships create better conditions for children to cope with adversity and reduce the risks of social exclusion, crime, destructive environments, and substance abuse.
“It’s important to meet with other parents and exchange thoughts and ideas about family life and how to be a good parent,” says a mother from a parent group in Motala. 

Erikshjälpen Framtidsverkstad is currently available at Motala, Helsingborg, Linköping, Borlänge, Uppsala , and Kristianstad. The work focuses, among other things, on giving young people the tools to make a difference and bring about positive change for themselves and their neighborhoods. Through Föräldrakraft , interventions also aims to inspire active parenting and strengthen family relationships.

- With many years of experience working for children's rights in different countries, we know that one of the best ways to help children is to support their parents," says Mattias Ingesson.

Building bridges between parents and the community

Erikshjälpen Framtidsverkstad sometimes meets parents who express a lack of confidence in their own abilities and who find it difficult to reconcile present parenting with challenges linked to finances and working conditions. Distrust of authorities can be great, so Erikshjälpen wants to act as a bridge builder to various agencies in society in addition to parent-strengthening measures. In this way, public resources and interventions can be made available to many more people.

Erikshjälpen will also develop community hubs in each town to foster inspiration, engagement, and the sharing of experiences.
“ the Postcode Lottery now has the opportunity to develop its existing operations with new perspectives. This is important and urgent,” says Anders Årbrandt, managing director at Svenska .