A Wigan charity for families, since 2013
When your family can’t talk, we help you start again.
We help parents, grandparents, young people and carers sort things out calmly. No one takes sides, and the children come first.
The first chat is free. We aim to meet you within a week.
“It was easy to discuss things that were previously impossible to talk about.”
Who are you looking for help for?
Pick the one closest to you. Families come in all shapes, and we work with all of them.
Separated, separating, or struggling at home
We can help you and the other parent agree where the children live, when they see each of you, holidays, school and money. If home life with your teenager has become a battle, we can help with that too.
Family mediationTeam Parent co-parenting supportTake Time To Talk (free)
Lost touch with your grandchildren
Grandparents are often the first to miss out when parents fall out. Grandparents have no automatic right to see their grandchildren, but mediation is often the best way back in. You can ring us for a confidential chat first.
Things are hard at home, or with a parent you don’t live with
A mediator can help you and your family listen to each other. They won’t take sides or tell you what to do. Your school doesn’t need to know.
Raising a child in your family
If you’re a grandparent, aunt, uncle or other relative looking after a child, maybe under a Special Guardianship Order, we can help you and the child’s parents agree contact and talk without it turning into a row.
Referring a family or a client
We’re an accredited Family Mediation Council service and we take referrals from solicitors, social care, schools, health and community groups. We aim to meet families within a week.
How family mediation works
Mediation is a calm, private conversation with someone trained to keep it fair. You make the decisions, not a judge. You can stop at any time.
A free first chat
Ring or email us. We listen, answer your questions and tell you honestly if mediation could help.
A meeting on your own
You meet a mediator by yourself for about an hour. This is called a MIAM. We invite the other person to have theirs too.
Talking together
With the mediator there, you talk through what needs sorting. Arrangements for children often take 1 to 3 sessions.
Written down
The mediator writes up what you agreed. You can take it to a solicitor if you want it to be legally binding.
If the other person won’t come, you can still have your own meeting. If you need to go to court about children or money, the mediator can sign the form the court asks for.
What we do
Mediation for when you need to agree something. Support for when life at home is just hard.
All our servicesMediation
- Family mediation
Help to agree arrangements for your children, money and property after you separate, without a court deciding for you.
- Kinship mediation
For grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family carers raising a child, and the child’s parents, to agree contact and talk calmly.
- Workplace and community mediation
An impartial mediator for disagreements at work, between neighbours, or in a faith or community group.
Family support
- Team Parent
Ongoing co-parenting support for separated parents who keep getting stuck on the day-to-day decisions.
- Take Time To Talk Free
Free support for families in Wigan Borough where arguments and stress have taken over home life.
- Tou-Can groups Free
Free stay and play groups, and one-to-one support, for parents and carers of babies and young children.
- Getting On
Practical one-to-one support to build your confidence and take steps towards work, training or volunteering.
Our last year, in numbers
September 2024 to August 2025, from our Trustees' Annual Report 2025.
- referrals for family mediation, many from people who were recommended to us
- 119referrals for family mediation, many from people who were recommended to us
- people helped through our mediation service
- 418people helped through our mediation service
- families (171 people) supported by Take Time To Talk
- 54families (171 people) supported by Take Time To Talk
- families (39 adults and 63 children) at our Tou-Can groups
- 31families (39 adults and 63 children) at our Tou-Can groups
What families have told us
“I have only positive things to say about mediation. I think as a family we all now think about what we are going to say, before we say it. It has minimised the conflict between us and our teenagers.”
“I was stressed and feeling anxious about family issues. But thanks to you helping and listening, I feel less stressed.”
“It helped me to say how I felt about my Dad.”
Worried about the cost?
Please don’t let money stop you ringing. The first chat costs nothing, and we’ll tell you straight away what help you can get.
The government’s Family Mediation Voucher
If you’re mediating about children, the government voucher can pay towards it. Through TalkFIRST it usually means your first two joint sessions cost you nothing. It isn’t means-tested.
Free support in Wigan Borough
Take Time To Talk and our Tou-Can groups are free, thanks to our funders and donors.
Legal Aid
We aren’t registered for Legal Aid. If you might qualify, we’ll point you to a mediator who is.
Help another family get talking
We’re a small local charity. Most of our free work is paid for by grants, which are hard to win. Every donation, volunteer and partner helps us say yes to more families.
Give
Donate safely through JustGiving or PayPal. If you’re a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid adds 25p to every pound.
DonateGive your time
Help at our Tou-Can groups, fundraise, or bring your skills to our board of trustees.
Volunteer with usFund or partner with us
See what we do, who funds us and what we could do next with the right partner.
For funders and partnersNews from TalkFIRST
All news- Back to school after separation: keeping the focus on your children
Uniforms, school emails, parents' evening. Small practical things can turn into big rows for separated parents. Some ideas for keeping September calmer.
- Working together to build digital confidence at TalkFIRST
Sophie from Wigan Borough Community First joined Tracy for a Digi Drop-In session on using social media to reach more families.
- Wigan Borough Community First funds our new Getting On project
Funding from the Path to Purpose fund means we can launch Getting On: practical, person-centred support for people who don't yet feel ready for work, training or volunteering.
Ready to talk?
The first chat is free and there’s no pressure to do anything after it. We aim to meet you within a week.