Our Story
Our Story
I’m not sure how to thank someone who has saved my life because thank you isn’t really enough. My children still have their mum and that is something I will forever be grateful for.

Where we began
Platform For Life is a Chester-based charity. Founded in 2017, we developed from a small volunteer counselling service, helping young families experiencing multiple challenges, such as homelessness, debt and parenting difficulties. We could see that poor mental health was preventing families from overcoming their challenges, so we set out to develop an exemplary and inclusive range of accessible support services to help families achieve positive changes in their lives. All too often, the cycle of mental ill health is passed down from one generation to the next, and that has been one of our key drivers: to break that cycle and improve individuals’ life chances. We started our new counselling and play therapy service in Lache, delivering it in community locations that were easy for people to access. We made it available to people who couldn’t afford to pay for therapy, when NHS provision wasn’t available or difficult to access, or when waiting times were long.
Word spread quickly about our service
Local schools began showing an interest and started referring children. We established an approach with each individual referral that helped us identify whether it was best to work with the child, the parent(s) or both. This on-the-spot flexibility proved invaluable, allowing us to focus on the family rather than just the individual. The benefit of this approach was reinforced by teachers who recognised that helping a child in isolation has limited value if the family environment is unstable and non-nurturing. As one headteacher commented “Only when we see a change in the parents do we see a change in the child.”
From the start, it was clear there was a huge unmet need
Cheshire West and Chester is a relatively affluent area, but it has several high deprivation hotspots that often get overlooked. Their challenges are sometimes masked by the region's overall position. We wanted to expand our support to other struggling areas, so focused our efforts on a small number of high need communities. By helping a higher percentage of families in a single community, we hoped to see other benefits by disrupting the ways psychological stresses can be passed on (e.g. between pupils in a class or between neighbours). Very quickly, we were approached by schools in Blacon, another high need community in Chester. So, encouraged by positive feedback from clients, referrers and funders, we extended our service into Blacon in 2018. In 2023 we then further expanded into Kingsway. We aim to keep growing and reaching as many people in need across Chester as we can. If you would like to find out more about our charity, and current developments, you can download our latest Trustee’s Annual report.