Single parents launch café on wheels to combat stigma and isolation.

There are over 160,000 single parent families in Wales – that’s 1 in 4 families. Too often, these families face stigma, loneliness, and isolation, making it one of the most urgent wellbeing issues in Wales today.

Tackling loneliness is also at the heart of the Welsh Government’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025–2035, which calls for more accessible, preventative and community-based support.

This weekend at Ysgol Glan Morfa in Cardiff, Single Parents Wellbeing (SPW) launched its new Raise campaign and unveiled Wales’ first Connection Café on Wheels – a mobile, welcoming space designed by and for single parents to bring families together and raise each other up. Over 100 people came together including single parents, children and young people, volunteers and ambassadors.

The café is more than just coffee on wheels. Every detail – from the name to the design, to the suppliers – was chosen by SPW members.

Even the coffee, provided by local roasters Hard Lines, reflects SPW’s commitment to working with Welsh brands that share the same values of community and connection.

The café will now travel to events and communities across Wales, offering single parents a safe space to connect, share, and access wellbeing support.

Amy Holland, Co-Founder and CEO of SPW, said: “Single parents are some of the most resilient, resourceful people you’ll ever meet – but no one should have to do it all alone. Loneliness and stigma are real, and the Connection Café is about meeting families where they are, creating spaces of belonging, and reminding single parents that they are valued, powerful, and never alone.

“It’s also just the beginning. The café is the first initiative to come out of Raise – a campaign that’s about raising awareness, raising voices, and raising each other up through everything we do.”

Created by single parents, for single parents

The Connection Café, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, is just one of the initiatives co-designed by SPW’s community. From workshops and wellbeing programmes to youth activities and peer-led groups, every service SPW offers is shaped by the lived experience of single parents themselves.

Naomi, an SPW ambassador and single parent of two, explained how important this support has been: “In the beginning it was a complete shock. My mental health really suffered – there were days I couldn’t leave the house because I felt so anxious and so alone.

“Finding SPW changed everything. It gave me people who understood, and slowly I started to rebuild my confidence. Now, my kids see other families like ours and realise we’re not different – we belong.”

A young person at the event shared how much it meant to them: “When my mum first became a single parent it was really hard. I didn’t know anyone else like me, and I felt different. At events like today I can make friends who understand, and it makes me feel proud of my family instead of embarrassed.”

And Sophia, who created Solo Sundays to bring single parents together, highlighted the impact of the new café: “At first people rally round for a little while, but then life goes back to normal for them – and that’s when the loneliness really hits. SPW gave me a tribe of people who get it. Without that, I don’t know how I’d have coped.”

Aligned with Wales’ Mental Health Strategy

The launch of Raise directly supports the Welsh Government’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025–2035, which calls for more accessible, preventative, and community-based support.

With an emphasis on social prescribing and peer-led resources, the strategy highlights the role of initiatives like SPW in reducing loneliness and helping families before problems escalate.

Julie Morgan MS, Former Deputy Minister for Social Services, said: “The Welsh Government’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy sets out a clear ambition to reduce loneliness and ensure support is available in our communities, before problems become more serious.

“Single Parents Wellbeing is a brilliant example of that vision in action – peer-led, preventative, and rooted in community. The new Raise campaign and the Connection Café on Wheels show how we can turn strategy into reality, giving single parents the confidence, connections and support they need to thrive.”

What’s next

The Connection Café on Wheels will now tour events and communities across Wales and will also be available to hire for community events, festivals and staff wellbeing days, helping raise vital funds to continue SPW’s work.

Amy Holland added: “Raise is about so much more than one project. The café is the first, but there are many more ideas in the pipeline – all shaped by single parents themselves. Together, we’re building a movement where single parents don’t just survive, they thrive.”

To find out more about Single Parents Wellbeing and their plans to reach more single parent families across Wales – visit their website.