Peaky Parents / Kactus Kids - formerly known as Your Child Freedom Programme (YCFF) and other previous names - Child anxiety programme

[Daaxy]

My son was showing signs of anxiety and I was looking for help for him. I came across an ad on Facebook - Kids Anxiety Disorder Solutions. I watched an hour long webinar and then had a lengthy telephone appointment - this was the point that Peaky Parents was introduced.. The programme comes very close to guaranteeing that your child will be cured within around 8 weeks. it costs either £2500 or £5500 depending on the level of support your child needs. Some aspects of the engagement/sales process with Peaky Parents made me feel uncomfortable - I wanted to do some research on the company before signing up. I came across the link referred to at the start of the thread which has lots of views and information about YCFF, now Peaky Parents.

I would not have come across this information if at the time I had just been researching Peaky Parents. I do not know the reason for the name change.

Radio 4, File on 4, is broadcasting a programme on 21/9/21 at 8pm called Mental Health Profiteers - based on this organisation I believe.

If you are thinking of signing up with Peaky Parents I would suggest you look at the YCFF thread before making a decision.

Concerns expressed about Peaky Parents on the YCFF link include:-

high pressure selling to vulnerable people - specific aim to create a 'marketing machine' to sell this online programme

encouraging vulnerable parents to put themselves under financial pressure to raise funds for the programme

bold statements, approaching a guarantee, that the programme will work, with no evidence to back this up

blaming parents for the programme not succeeding for their child
lack of qualifications held within the organisation

young people giving personal video reviews

lack of professionalism - emotive language designed evoke guilt

criticism of other professional services

no regulation

Previous threads mentioned:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/child_adolescent_mental_health/4239684-your-child-freedom-formula-has-anyone-tried-it?pg=1&messages=25

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/child_adolescent_mental_health/4279596-Your-child-freedom-formula-child-anxiety-programmes-thread-2

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/child_adolescent_mental_health/4294609-Your-Child-Freedom-Formula-scam

As a significant contributor to the previous threads I applaud @Daaxy for starting this new thread with clear signposting for anyone researching this organisation. @Daaxy

Two final points I’d like to add which may be useful and pertinent (and save those trawling the other threads):

• This organisation is run by Sam(antha) and Martin Robins who previously ran a print company that unfortunately failed during covid. The limited Company they are running this organisation through is called Tomwill Holdings Ltd.

• Various bodies (ASA, trading standards, and others) are actively investigating them for their bad business practices/claims.

As I understand it, this thread is not designed to reiterate comments made on the other threads (or for Sam’s cheerleading squad to defend/applaud/promote them!), but to signpost anyone looking into this organisation.

Hi to anyone trawling through the many Peaky Parent formerley Your Child Freedom Formula threads. Most on here, I assume has a child/teen with excessive anxiety - rubbish situation to be in and it can become very challenging to know what to do to help them. There are many sources of help out there - as detailed in the many threads. Take your pick, try one and then keep going until you find the one that works for you.

[not aimed at Daaxy, just any regular contributers] In the process of your search, don't destroy a company like Peaky Peaky parents whose offering has worked for many grateful customers after trying other routes. Lets keep more options open for anyone in this situation.

The company owners, in my opinion, are very good at what they do just inexperienced at marketing - I overlooked that as I come from that background, what was more important to me was the support they offered. I believe they are working with the ASA on there marketing.

To Daaxy - I know you haven't asked for advice but just a snippet, I constantly spoke with my son about his anxiety at the start, it was my mission to find the answer. With hindsight, I would limit how much you mention it. Keep the household as calm as possible (not suggesting we were living in a war-zone, we were all fairly chilled to begin with) but dial it back as much as you can, so he can get to the point where he can actually take incoming messages. He'll then be in a position to get the most out of whatever help you may get for him. Good luck.

Don't you just hate seeing a glaring typo after posting something.

@Chelsea541 - The reasons these companies deserve scrutiny are just a little bit more complex other than Martin and Samantha Robins being simply "inexperienced at marketing".

I have seen a lot of false narrative about this company. The bottom line ‘for me’ is that their offering worked for my family, where all else had failed.

During any scrutiny, let them listen and adapt as I suspect they are already doing; It seems in some recent threads they are getting criticised even for that. Many people have found their offering has allowed them to move forwards from excessive anxiety impeding their lives, where other avenues have fallen short, so that’s why you’ll find some of them ‘cheerleading, defending, applauding and recommending’ them. Having come through a five-year search for an effective solution, I make no apologies for being someone who supports what their company offers.

@Chelsea541 you missed the suggestion not to use this thread for posting anything about YCFF. I thought @Daaxy set it up for one purpose only which was l as a signposting thread.

Can these posts be moved to the second thread rather than here or we will simply be starting all over again and reiterating all that has already been said!

flounces off

Flounces off.... even more dramatically. Lol
I'll bow out, and resist coming back on Mumsnet.

Excellent news for me to hear @Chelsea541

The Radio 4 Programme File On 4 21/9/21 @ 8pm is well worth a listen.
On BBC Sounds, & repeated this Sunday morning too.

I agree @TeenMinusTests; the radio programme is well worth a listen. I personally don’t feel it portrays a very good impression of Sam and Martin Robins at all.

What do others think who have listened to it?

Here’s a link:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000zt9y

I posted on one of the other threads.

Anyone who chooses to do high pressure marketing on vulnerable families (even if apparently advised to do so by marketing experts) is not someone I would want looking after the welfare of my child.

I feel sorry for the families on the R4 program who have been left in a worse state after their 'help' than they were before. It seems initial early gains are not always sustained.

For info: they have started advertising on Facebook as Anxiety Recovery Program and they have set up a new company called A Tribe of Good People

Sorry, it's just called The Recovery Program

Gosh all I hear are self important people spreading negativity without any real knowledge of the work being done by the company. The radio 4 thing was completely one sided and biased for a start. It compared two completely different companies to YCFF in a way that made the listener think it might be the same company. And some of you sound like you have nothing better to do with your lives than ruin others. If you don't like it, don't trust it, don't want to be part if it then don't. For some of us this works.

What on earth are you on about @3xteens??

The Radio 4 investigation and report was about YCFF...it was thoroughyl researched by excellent journalists and was not 'one sided' but completely representative of the practices of YCFF.

I think you might benefit from listening to it again...

And we do have real knowledge of the work being done by the Company. Why do you think this thread was started in the first place?

Flounces out

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000zt9y

Just wanted to keep this link to the BBC report on PeakyParents accessible. This is worth a listen before signing up to their overpriced anxiety programme. I am an ex paid up customer who had a terrible experience with YCFF before they became PeakyParents.

@Twoandtwois6

Thank you for reposting the link (I could have done that; I didn' think...).

Hope you are well

@GoodButNaughty I have listened to it and to be non biased it should have represented both sides to the story. That is not how it came across.

It had snippets of terrible experiences from two other unrelated companies which have very different methods to YCFF.

You have your very strong opinion and are sounding quite blinkered. Where are the many great outcomes for families using YCFF included in these posts? Where were they in the BBC 'investigation'?

You keep coming back hard at anyone who posts positive views on the company. Sorry you had a bad experience/it wasn't for you/you can't trust them/if you and family members still struggle daily with debilitating anxiety. But for us their approach clicked and is working, their support has been amazing, the time we have had with mentors is seeing results, and our recovery is happening step by step.

And no, after years and years of my children trying to cope, it isn't a quick fix it's a long term fix. I really believe that.

I disagree that the programme was balanced. The programme was totally one sided. The programmers received 20 letters of support from parents who’s children are on the programme. They ignored them They neglected to listen to or include any of them. Instead they pursued their own agenda to argue a case that seemed only to be informed by two families experiences.

I’m doing well thanks, there are still court based issues open, but I feel very well equipped to deal with them, I’m just putting some new evidence together, watch this space. My daughter is just starting to trust external advice again but we are far from there yet.

@Snoozingmum

I disagree that the programme was balanced. The programme was totally one sided. The programmers received 20 letters of support from parents who’s children are on the programme. They ignored them They neglected to listen to or include any of them. Instead they pursued their own agenda to argue a case that seemed only to be informed by two families experiences.

It struck me that the programme's agenda was to question whether it's wise to allow any old Tom, Dick or Samantha to experiment with children's mental health completely unchallenged, unregulated or unchecked.

The conclusion - after presenting fact based evidence including how downright unethically Samantha & Martin Robins run their business - seemed to be that no, maybe it's not that wise.

Of course, if someone's happy to hand over vast sums of cash and leave their child's mental wellbeing in the hands of a tribe of poorly qualified individuals, they're totally free to do so.

@ConcernedObserver my opinion is that these 'vast sums' you are mentioning are not vast. If you consider what to get for the money versus paying for anything privately I would argue that we are just too used to 'free on the NHS'. This is a long term recovery plan for a fixed amount. If you need more time, more mentoring, more 121 the cost does not increase. It is also a different approach for families who have tried the 'free' approaches and they haven't worked.

[quote 3xteens]@ConcernedObserver my opinion is that these 'vast sums' you are mentioning are not vast. If you consider what to get for the money versus paying for anything privately I would argue that we are just too used to 'free on the NHS'. This is a long term recovery plan for a fixed amount. If you need more time, more mentoring, more 121 the cost does not increase. It is also a different approach for families who have tried the 'free' approaches and they haven't worked.[/quote]
Ok, I will reword the sentence in which I used the words 'vast sums' and invite you to continue to justify YCFF's sales tactics & approach:

"If an unregulated company decides to target suffering families and bombard them with a high pressure sales approach until they part with well over twice the average UK monthly wage, regardless of whether they can afford it or not, they're totally free to do so."

Why do you think the owners of the company made bragging posts about how much money they are turning over, rather than how many children they are helping?

Why do you think it's called High Ticket sales?

(Incidentally, how can it be 'a long term recovery plan' when their business name changes with the wind?)