Julian Leighton, director at Orange Bus with Lisa Pringle, local services manager at Family Lives.
A new website, designed by a North East digital agency, is set to provide help and support to families affected by bullying.
Family Lives, a national charity that provides 24-hour assistance to families across the UK, is calling for stronger partnerships between parents, pupils and teachers in the face of the online bullying problem.
The new website is the lynch pin in the charity’s plans make it simple to access free support on this subject.
Easy access to online support
According to Luke Surry, head of digital media at Family Lives, cyber-bullying is a serious and growing problem.
“With internet access so readily available through laptops and mobile phones, victims often find the situation relentless”, he said.
“It’s vital that parents have easy access to online support, and for many the Family Lives website is the first place they visit.
“Parents can live chat with a trained family support worker, get advice over email and talk with other people facing similar issues in our discussion forum.”
Bridging the gap
The new site was developed by North East digital agency Orange Bus, who specialise in user experience and interface design.
According to Julian Leighton, a director at Orange Bus, the aim was to provide a highly accessible resource that would bridge the gap that can exist between parents, professionals, families and children.
“By incorporating a greater level of parent interactivity such as blogs, comments, videos, ratings, forums and additional support via podcasts and live chat, the Family Lives site is designed to wear a number of hats for different user groups”, he said.
