By Tracey Strangeway, May 2024

When I first started at Amber Family and I discovered that I would be completing Memory Book work with the family undergoing assessment, I was like, “Oh ok, that will be something nice to do”. However, when I became involved in helping our parents to produce the memory book pages, only then did I realise how important it was for both the parents and the babies.

Memory Books are filled with magical moments, such as the first night in their Moses basket, first bath, celebrations or festivities, information about Mum and Dad and recording an abundance of family time spent doing things like going to the park, visiting a museum or painting feet to make a ‘footprints’ gift. Documenting all of these beautiful moments is important as it ensures that both the parents and the children, can keep these memories to look back on forever, regardless of the recommendations made in their final assessment.

We start by creating the memories. It could be something simple, such as a walk to the beach with their new baby or creating a collage of pictures from having their first bath. It could be something big, like meeting their grandparents for the first time or going for their first swim. During these cherished moments, parents are spending quality time connecting with their babies. These interactions help to strengthen and build the bond between them, which in turn contributes to a nurturing environment for the baby – which they need to thrive!

Secondly, documenting and photographing these snapshots of time in a fun and creative way, can encourage a sense of belonging, identity and connection for the families and show all the wonderful things they had done, from days out at the park to days in doing messy play, photo shoots and many more.

When the parents have to navigate challenging circumstances, such as separation from their child following their placement with us, moments like these are never easy but providing their baby with a beautiful bright book, filled with words, images and an abundance of happy memories with their parent(s) for those few months will hopefully bring comfort to them in the future. All parents are provided with a scanned copy of all the work completed too, so they will have these keepsakes to cherish.

In these circumstances, this Memory Book may give our Amber Family children some knowledge about their parents they maybe didn’t know, such as what their wishes were for them when they grew up, what they liked to read to them or activities they enjoyed doing together.

Memory Book work is so much more than a few photos and craft work; it is a time capsule of feelings and emotions to document their journey together at Amber Family.