Meet ParentFuel – One of Our 2026 Incubator Finalist

ParentFuel: helping families find hope, healing and belonging

When families are living with trauma, poverty or isolation, it can be easy to focus on the challenges facing children. But ParentFuel believes one of the most powerful ways to change a family’s future is to start with the parent.

The organisation is helping churches become places of hope for parents and families who may be struggling with the effects of trauma, difficult circumstances and isolation.

Through its Root & Rise and Freedom Fuel programmes, ParentFuel equips churches with training, mentoring and ongoing support to develop relational, trauma-informed ministries. The aim is simple: to create safe spaces where parents can begin to understand their own stories, heal from past experiences and build healthier relationships.

And the impact can ripple far beyond the individual.

As parents grow in confidence and learn to manage their emotions and relationships more effectively, their children and wider families can benefit too. Churches also become places where people who may never have considered stepping through their doors can find acceptance, practical support and a sense of belonging.

For many, that journey is also opening the door to faith.

Through Freedom Fuel, 95% of participants are now connected with a local church, while 100% report being more open to Jesus.

For Ben Woodfield, a church leader at New Life Church and Director of Every Life UK, the difference has been clear. He describes seeing families find a safe space, experience healing and become part of the church community – with many now exploring faith for themselves.

More churches could replicate ParentFuel’s model

ParentFuel’s ambition is to see this approach spread far beyond the churches it currently works with.

Over the next five to ten years, the organisation wants to equip churches across the UK to become safe, trauma-informed communities where parents can heal, children can thrive and families can flourish.

At the heart of the vision is a belief that local churches are uniquely placed to reach families who may otherwise remain disconnected – and that supporting parents today can help break cycles of difficulty that might otherwise be passed from one generation to the next.

For ParentFuel, the goal is not simply to help families cope with difficult circumstances. It is to help create communities where hope, healing and belonging can take root – and where families can discover the transforming hope of Jesus.

Find out more at parentfuel.co.uk

Cinnamon Incubator Final 2026

ParentFuel are one of five finalists at this year’s Cinnamon Incubator Competition, taking place on Thursday 12 November at St Peter’s Church in Notting Hill.

For more information about the event email sarah.taylor@cinnamonnetwork.co.uk