1 The community plays an important role in supporting strong marriages and family life. Research shows that individuals who seek marriage support often turn to people they know first for help. This includes their friendsand family members, religious and community leaders.
2 The Marital First Responder (MFR) Training is one way in which the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) partners community stakeholders to build the capability of community volunteers to provide basic marriage advice and help.
3 The MFR training is an MSF initiative that is available to all communities. This training is suitable for all who may be approached by and would like to provide better marriage support to friends, family members and individual/couples. These volunteers may include religious educators, marriage mentors, grassroots leaders and other individuals keen to offer help.
4 The MFR training at Nee Soon is a collaboration between the local Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (MAECs), mosques, MENDAKI and MSF. About 40 volunteers in Nee Soon have been trained so far. We aim to train 100 participants from the Malay/Muslim community in the first year. Some will be identified to go through Train-the-Trainer workshop to offer MFR training for the community. This training programme will be progressively rolled out to other M3@Towns.
5 MSF is exploring MFR training for other communities and organisations. In 2018, we worked with community partners to train about 40 counsellors and marriage educators, of which 20 have been trained to provide MFR training. Community agencies interested in the training may contact MSF at MSF_MPP1@msf.gov.sg. More details of MFR training can be found in Annex A.