Jane Robey, CEO of National Family Mediation (NFM), talks through her week at the start of a year which will see the charity celebrate its 40th anniversary.
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Having served almost 20 years at the helm, Robey is an advocate of alternative dispute resolution and has worked in the field for a number of years.

Established in 1982, NFM is one of the founding members of the Family Mediation Council, the body which regulates the standards of practice in family mediation.

Monday

This Monday starts differently to any other week as I attended the launch of Family Mediation Week with an address from Lord Bellamy KC, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice. Family Mediation Week provides an opportunity for us to showcase our skills and services, and to promote the benefits of mediation to key stakeholders. With the backlogs in the family courts, it’s more important than ever that we raise awareness of what mediation has to offer. Across the week if just one family chooses mediation over conflict and court, then I see that as a win.

Thankfully, the government is (rather unusually) in agreement, and the MOJ has introduced the family mediation voucher scheme that offers families a £500 contribution towards the cost of mediation. It started as a trial following the pandemic and has been so successful, we are hopeful it will be made more permanent.

Historically, the start of the week would have seen me board a train to London, but we have continued to work remotely since the pandemic so most of my time is now spent on zoom or teams. It’s very efficient and certainly saves wear and tear on me because of the reduced travelling but there is something missing. The speech given by Lord Bellamy was to over 400 family mediators and had we all been in a venue together there would have been a real buzz about the proposals, so whilst we all got ringside seats to hear what he had to say, I must confess I felt it lacked some of that kinetic energy generated by those in-person events.

And then, back to business. A meeting with my operations manager to look at workflows and staffing levels. Despite working remotely, we are not immune to the seasonal sicknesses and as a small team any absence causes disruption.

Having sorted out a plan of work, next is a meeting with my marketing manager. As well as being Family Mediation Week, NFM is poised to launch its 40th Anniversary celebrations.

Then, things are interrupted as a media request comes in from a regional radio station, so its time to drop everything and prep.

Tuesday

Tuesday is consumed with preparation for sending out the board papers, and a meeting with the finance manager to discuss the quarters outcome and analyse the last quarters data. Some good stuff, some not so good. The good: family mediation referrals and case starts have increased. The Jubilee bank holiday and the Queen’s death added to changes in referral patterns. It’s good, therefore, to see that since September things are stabilising and we can have more confidence in our budget. The not so good - training. The cost-of-living crisis is affecting us all and the first place to take the hit is the training income. Training to become a family mediator is also a big investment so until we can find a way to subsidise the training, we will struggle to increase the numbers of mediators coming through. That said, while things are slow, they are by no means at a standstill. Three new mediators and a professional practice consultant are joining our team so next it’s on to recruitment and induction.

Wednesday

Wednesday is preparation for audits. We will be audited in two areas, firstly by the legal aid agency. This is vital as it gives families on low income access to free mediation once they, have been through the legal aid eligibility assessment.

The audit is stringent, and so it should be as these are public funds. Secondly, our family mediation foundation training programme will be audited by the regulator the Family Mediation Council. As the largest provider of legal aid family mediation and as the founder it is very important to me that we succeed in both cases. We also have a large programme of work expanding our training offer to family mediators. Very exciting is the prospect of undertaking some formal research into the effectiveness of using motivational interviewing techniques in the mediation process. We have received ethical approval and are now developing the research programme. It’s the first time in many years that NFM and family mediation has been able to engage with formal clinical research – very exciting An exhausting day pouring over the minutiae of contracts to make sure we are compliant. I know we are but it’s always a worry.

Thursday

And finally, Thursday. It’s my last day of the week. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to put off the most difficult until last but that’s what I’ve done! Technology – not my strong suit but essential in today’s modern world. Overcoming my anxieties and self-proclaimed ignorance, I have developed an app for clients and mediators to work together to gather all the financial information two divorcing people need to be able to achieve separation and get a legal
financial order. We are now on to version two - that involves additional development work and a review of some of the content. So, it’s working line by line through the content to make amendments, and I find ploughing through from start to finish is the best way to keep momentum, but by the end of it my brain hurts.

It seems to me that IT speaks a different language, but fortunately I work with a great company who can bridge that communication gap and help me understand. Finally, its prep for three other projects we are working on with different organisations. One to extend family support workers knowledge about services available to support the families they see, another to provide services in cross border mediation. Many families these days have
international connections and if one of their parents lives on a different continent, maintaining relationships after divorce can be difficult. Mediation can help, so we are working with a German organisation. Finally, we are working with a Homes for Ukraine organisation.

Since the conflict in Ukraine began NFM has provided training and support for three Ukrainian family mediators who have had to flee and are now in the UK. They have offered their skills to provide mediation for hosts and families to support the placements.

Friday

Friday, I make sure I get some fresh air.

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