Health and wellbeing

Being a single parent has its ups and downs. Looking after children on your own can be hard.

The things that happen in life can take their toll, like splitting up with a partner, not having much money, finding it hard to get a job that fits around your children. Single parents tell us that they often feel anxious, stressed and lonely. 

You’ll find some information and tips on our site to help you cope with whatever’s going on for you and your children. Our local services offer a mix of support. We can help you keep your life on track. 

My life and me

‘My life and me’, is packed with tips and advice single parents.

  Visit ‘My life and me’

Information

Tips to reduce anxiety

Lots of people feel anxious when they’re dealing with something stressful. There are things you can do to help ease feelings of anxiety and release stress.

Service

Grief and loss

Coming to terms with life after the death of someone close to you can be incredibly difficult. There are specialist services that can offer you support.

Information

Exercise at home

Many single parents tell us it can be difficult to fit in exercise around parenting, especially if they don’t have childcare. Here are some suggestions of ways you could exercise at home, with or without your children.

Service

Bereavement at Christmas

Coming to terms with life after the death of someone close to you can be incredibly difficult. There are specialist services that can offer you support.

Service

Support for you and your family

Our local services offer different ways of connecting with support workers and other single parents. Our groups give you the chance to meet other people who know what it’s like to be a single parent. Our one-to-one support can support you and your family with some of the practical and emotional issues that affect your […]

Information

Counselling and support

Whether you are a new single parent, or have been a single parent for a while, you may find that things are getting on top of you and that it’s hard to cope. This is natural. But if feelings of sadness, anger or stress go on for a long time, it can affect your mental […]

Wellbeing

Taking care of yourself

There are things you can do to take care of your mind, your body and your time which are easy to do, free and don’t take a lot of time.

Wellbeing

Feeling less lonely and more in touch with others

There are things you can do to feel less isolated, from working on your self-esteem to finding new ways to meet people, to taking up hobbies or volunteering.

Wellbeing

Understanding and coping with your emotions

There are ways of dealing with feelings and emotions, and of getting a bit more control over and what comes at you.

News updates for single parent

View all news

Our news updates reflect the work of One Parent Families Scotland and the issues affecting single parents today.

Free school meals available for some P6 and P7s in Scotland

17/04/2025

Single Parent FAQs: Having Fun on a Budget – Issue 38

08/04/2025

Answers to the most recently frequently asked questions on childcare.

Single Parent FAQs: Childcare – Issue 37

27/03/2025

Answers to the most recently frequently asked questions on childcare.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

View Privacy policy

Covering your tracks

You may not want other people to know that you’ve been searching for information or help from OPFS.

When browsing the internet whether on a mobile phone, tablet or computer, you leave a ‘history’ trail of pages and sites you’ve visited.

It’s impossible to completely avoid being tracked online but if you’re worried about someone knowing which sites you’ve been looking at, there are some things you can do to help cover your tracks.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, try keeping another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch to another window or tab.

Deleting browsing history

You can delete the history of websites you’ve visited, but it’s important to know that if you delete your browsing history, someone else using the same device may notice.

If you share a tablet, mobile phone, laptop or computer with someone, they might notice that passwords or website addresses have disappeared from their history.

Find out how to remove your browsing history and other data from some of the most commonly used browsers:

Browsing in Private mode (incognito)

When browsing ‘incognito’, the internet browser won’t store cookies or record your browsing history on the computer, mobile or tablet.

This option is available on popular web browsers i.e. -

Toolbars

If you use a search toolbar in your web browser, remember that your searched items can be saved as part of your history. Find out how to delete your searched items from the following search engines: