HUGS - Helping Unite Generations to Support New Mothers

<< Background >>HUGS was a small-scale partnership for cooperation in the field of adult education, lasting 16 months (February 2024 – May 2025). The partnership consisted of the lead organization Famiglie per la Famiglia Onlus (Italy) and Vital Aid Foundation (Netherlands).The overall objective was to share knowledge, experiences, and good practices in order to define—and subsequently train—a volunteer support figure to assist new families and new mothers, with a particular focus on migrant women.The partnership applied for this project to respond to the growing need for structured support for new families and, in particular, for new mothers from migrant backgrounds. Many of these women experience social isolation, limited access to information, and cultural barriers during the early months of motherhood. The project aimed to address these gaps by defining and promoting the role of a trained volunteer support figure, capable of offering practical and emotional guidance to new mothers, thereby fostering inclusion and well-being.<< Objectives >>HUGS aimed to:•provide partner organisations with support in terms of knowledge, skills, and tools to improve their daily work with new mothers;•offer a theoretical and methodological framework enabling them to design an innovative training course on the role of the Volunteer Support Worker, to be implemented at a later stage;•create a European network of organisations working with women, children, and families to share experiences, knowledge, and good practices, with the aim of promoting the role of the Volunteer Support Worker at the European level.Adult Education: HUGS improved access to high-quality learning opportunities for women volunteers, enhancing their skills as support workers. This initial phase laid the foundation for a future Europe-wide pilot.Social Inclusion: The project addressed the isolation of mothers by introducing trained volunteer figures who offered early support and fostered intercultural understanding.Organisational Innovation: HUGS promoted learning spaces through cooperation among partner organisations. Famiglie per la Famiglia served as a hub within a broad network of families, NGOs, schools, and public institutions, aiming to build new partnerships at the European and local level.<< Implementation >>HUGS included four main work packages.WP1 focused on coordination, monitoring, and evaluation, running throughout the project under the lead of Famiglie per la Famiglia (FF), which presented the Project Management and Monitoring Plans during the kick-off meeting.WP2, also led by FF, included a study comparing FF’s experience with that of European partners, a Training of Trainers on the role and competencies of the Volunteer Support Worker, and the final drafting of PR1: Guidelines defining this role.WP3, coordinated by Vital Aid Foundation (VAF), focused on the design of an innovative training pathway for women aged 40–60 wishing to support new mothers and families. It included research on existing European methodologies and training offers. FF and VAF involved volunteers to collect grassroots input. The final result was PR2: Design Manual of the European Training Course for Voluntary Support Workers, building on the PR1: Guidelines and highlighting transferable good practices across Europe.WP4, coordinated by VAF, implemented a Communication and Dissemination Plan aimed at promoting the project, sharing results, and organizing targeted events for stakeholders.<< Results >>The results of the project were:1.Project result 1: Guidelines for the definition of the figure of the Voluntary Support Worker. These Guidelines are the result of the experience gained by the associations Famiglie per la Famiglia and Vital Aid, enriched by comparative desk research conducted on various European models. The aim is to propose a shared and integrated definition of the role of volunteer maternity support, capable of unifying different approaches and complementary skills, giving shape to a unique, flexible model that can be applied in various local contexts. 2.Project Result 2: Design Manual of the European Training Course for Voluntary Support Workers. This Handbook introduces an innovative course for voluntary support workers assisting new mothers. Drawing upon an indepth synthesis of successful training models across Europe, this proposal outlines an innovative, adaptable training course tailored to the realities and complexities faced by mothers today, especially those with a migratory background.