Ashford Mediation Service to step up support

The Ashford Mediation Service has been awarded a grant by the National Lottery Community Fund to increase its ability to provide mediation services to people living in the borough.

Free at the point of access to residents of Ashford, the Ashford Mediation Service helps to facilitate the resolution of conflict between neighbours over noise, boundary and anti-social behaviour issues, intergenerational conflict, child access disputes, work-place disputes and disputes between youth.

The aims of the Service are to help prevent the escalation of conflict, which in turn reduces likely intervention by the police and social services. Tackling conflict at an early stage can help to prevent breakdown in relationships and reduce homelessness and crime.

The grant will provide the volunteer mediators with much-needed IT equipment to conduct mediation services over technology platforms, giving them the ability to provide remote, rather than face-to-face, mediation during the current COVID-19 restrictions.

Lockdown has seen an increase in conflicts between neighbours as well as in the home and the grant will also fund an awareness campaign to allow the Service to create a support network in the community where people with conflict issues can be quickly and safely signposted to the most appropriate service.

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