Our support is free, confidential and non-judgemental. In fact, almost 25% of families refer themselves to Home-Start - which speaks for itself.

We help to increase the confidence and independence of families by:

• Visiting families in their own homes to offer support, friendship and practical assistance
• Reassuring parents that their childcare problems are not unusual or unique
• Encouraging parents' strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their children
• Trying to get the fun back into family life

Our volunteers, who have parenting experience themselves, can offer:

• Precious time for listening and talking
• Help with the children
• A break for parents
• Practical help and reassurance
• A chance to meet other parents in similar situations
• Support to use local services and resources

Parents ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:

• They may feel isolated in their community, have no family nearby and be struggling to make friends
• They may be finding it hard to cope because of their own or a child's physical or mental illness
• They may have been hit hard by the death of a loved one
• They may be really struggling the with emotional and physical demands of having twins or triplets - perhaps born into an already large family

Our quality is maintained across the country with all Home-Start schemes working to national standards.

Our sister organisation, Home-Start International, was founded in 1998 to provide similar informal, friendly, family support across the world.

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