Confidants and confidence

A LIGHTED candle, hands of different colours joined together, a bird in flight, an open door, a heart. These are just some of the images on the ceramic wall plaque at the entrance to the SureStart centre in Middlesbrough's Abingdon Road. For the women of the Parent Power group who created it, they represent the incredible changes that SureStart has wrought on their lives.

Parent Power is a group of mainly Asian women who live in the Abingdon, Breckon Hill and St John's Gate areas of Middlesbrough. They meet once a week at the centre to share their experiences.

When I visit, there are about a dozen women sitting in a circle, drinking tea and chatting. Some jiggle babies up and down on their laps. It's like any other group of young mums, but for many of them even just talking to a stranger used to be an ordeal. Isolated by their childcare responsibilities and their culture, they would spend hours at home feeling frustrated and lonely.

Some of the women have been coming to SureStart since it opened four years ago. Others have joined more recently, but even those who have been in Parent Power for only a few months have seen their lives transformed. They have new friends and a life outside their homes. They have access to courses and childcare. They have even produced a collection of poetry, Path In The Dark, about their experiences.

Working with poet in residence Maureen Almond, they wrote about their involvement with SureStart and its effect on their lives. The anthology was part of a Tees Valley Arts project that also enabled them to create the wall relief with ceramic artist Judy Caplin. What emerges from both is a powerful sense of change and hope in the future.

"It's absolutely magnificent to see it," says Zahra Shan, the group's co-ordinator. "When they first came in, they wouldn't even put their heads up. They were very shy and didn't have any confidence. They always felt second best in the family and their personal life. They felt as if they weren't important and what they said didn't count.

"When we had the ice-breaking sessions and asked them what they'd done, they would say 'nothing'. They were so flat and down, it really touched your heart, but in a few months, they'd blossomed."

All of the women say coming to the group has raised their self esteem and confidence. Once they could barely bring themselves to say hello if they bumped into each other in the street but today, they're firm friends.

There's been a difference in their children too. Like their mums, they're more confident and sociable.

SureStart is a government initiative for parents, children and communities. It aims to improve children's health and education. It provides childcare and supports parents, offering a range of training opportunities to help them into employment.

Nageena Ahmed first came to the centre in September last year. For her, the hardest part was walking through the door. On several occasions, she made it as far as the gate but couldn't take that final step. "I didn't know what the welcome would be like. I didn't know what everyone would think, but now I know they're all in the same boat," she says.

The 24-year-old has a six-year-old son and two-year-old daughter, and until she started coming to SureStart, she spent almost all of her time at home looking after them.

"I wouldn't talk to anyone before but I'm a much better person now. I've done quite a few courses and I'm doing voluntary work. I help out with the new mums group. I would never have done anything like that. I wouldn't have thought I could."

It's a similar story for most of the women, and that comes through very clearly in their poems. Producing the anthology was a means of expressing themselves but it has also given them a sense of achievement.

Nageena used to write poems at home but they usually ended up in the bin. She says: "Actually seeing my poems in print has made me very happy."

Uzma Abbas has been with the group since the start. She had just moved to Middlesbrough from London and knew no-one on Teesside. SureStart provided a network of ready-made friends who understood her situation and were on hand to support her.

"I really did wonder how I was going to cope," she says. "I had a job in London and life down there was so different, so busy. When I got pregnant I really wasn't looking forward to it because when you have kids you're so isolated for five years until they go to school.

"In the Asian community people don't understand it that much. They don't understand the mental problems. You don't have a life other than the children, unless you go to SureStart."

For Uzma, one of the major benefits of SureStart is the range of courses on offer - everything from first aid and cookery to computers and management. Like many of the others, she's taken advantage of the training and knows it will stand her in good stead for a job when her son is old enough to go to school.

The women have been gaining practical experience too. SureStart is parent-led; all of the women have a say in the way the centre is run. Some sit on committees while others are happy just to organise events.

During my visit, the women are preparing for an open day, which they hope will encourage others to come to the centre.

Helen Hunter, the chairman of Parent Power, has been with the group since the beginning of the year. Her son is now nine months old and she's back at work part-time but she visits SureStart whenever she can.

"You can borrow stuff from the toy library or do a course or an exercise class. The crche means you actually get some time to yourself, which is really important," she says. "SureStart makes all the difference. It gives you something to get out of bed for, it really does. It's absolutely fantastic."

* Path In The Dark is available from the SureStart centre (01642 241650) and Tees Valley Arts, Melrose House, Melrose Street, Middlesbrough TS1 2HZ (01642 264651).