Volunteers are effective at supporting families in crisis - now we must invest in them, says Home-Start

7th May 2009

News release and invitation

Embargoed until 06:00 BST Tuesday 12th May 2009

The contents of this press release will be made public in a speech by Kay Bews, chief executive of Home-Start, at the charity's Volunteers Matter event on the evening of Tuesday 12 May. Other speakers at the event are Kevin Brennan MP, minister for the third sector and Baroness Neuberger DBE, the government's champion of volunteering. HRH Princess Alexandra, patron of Home-Start, will also attend the event to meet volunteers and see specially commissioned photo essays of their work. You are invited to attend from 18:00 to 20:30. Full details in notes to editors.

VOLUNTEERS ARE EFFECTIVE AT SUPPORTING FAMILIES IN CRISIS - NOW WE MUST INVEST IN THEM, SAYS HOME-START

The country's leading family support charity is calling for greater levels of investment in volunteering; to help address growing levels of social exclusion and deprivation in families and to improve help for parents and their young children.

A briefing paper published by Home-Start today (Tuesday 12 May), shows that Home-Start volunteers can help families grow in confidence so that they move into work and out of poverty, and offer families a bridge into the community.

The briefing paper also shows the benefits of volunteering to volunteers themselves, helping build their skills and confidence and offering a route into training and employment.

Home-Start is the largest volunteer family support charity in the UK. 15,000 home-visiting volunteers support more than 70,000 parents and children each year in more than 330 communities. Home-Start volunteers provide a sound parenting role model based on accredited training and parenting experience. They provide practical help and emotional support to help move parents forward - building their parenting skills and ability to cope with family life. Volunteers build a trusting relationship with the families they support and spend an average of four hours each week with them.

"We know our volunteers work effectively with families with complex needs", says Kay Bews, chief executive of Home-Start UK. "We want greater recognition of the role and effectiveness of volunteers in delivering family support services from national policy makers and local children's services commissioners.

"The personal, long term interaction that our volunteers have with the parents and children they support cannot be replicated by pressured statutory or health services. The additional time that volunteers give to families and the added value that they bring to family support services builds social capital in the community and helps the personal development of both the families and the volunteers.

"Volunteers working with families within their communities and trained in safeguarding children are already able to respond to the recent call by Lord Laming that child protection is a community wide responsibility, not just the brief of social workers.

"We are calling for:

• a shared commitment to sustaining our existing, well trained network of volunteers across the UK;
• designated funds to help Home-Start respond to growing levels of demand and provide home-visiting volunteers in every community across the UK;
• a shared commitment to stabilise and develop existing volunteers services, rather than create new systems and programmes;
• new volunteer-based partnerships and initiatives to address family support needs and growing levels of social exclusion and deprivation."

./ends

Notes to editors:

The full briefing paper 'Family support services - the role of volunteers' is available on request from Jo McLeish, press & PR officer, Home-Start UK - 0116 258 7933 or jmcleish@home-start.org.uk

Interviews: Kay Bews, Home-Start UK chief executive and Elizabeth Young, Home-Start UK director for research and policy will be available for interviews at, before and after the event.

Baroness Neuberger DBE will be able to give only brief interviews at the event.

For details of the availability of Kevin Brennan MP, please contact the Home-Start press office 0870 220 6713 or the Cabinet Office press office: 020 7276 1196

Case studies: stories of volunteers and families are available to journalists. Chantal Lee, former Home-Start supported family and now a member of Home-Start staff will be available for interview on the night:

Chantal had her first child at eighteen and when she became pregnant with her second child four years later, her partner was not around much and Chantal didn't know how she was going to cope. Her health visitor referred her to Home-Start and she was matched to a volunteer. For a year Chantal's volunteer visited her at home offering her emotional support and advice. Chantal said: "My volunteer would come and talk through how I was feeling, she would reassure me and give me advice as she has three children of her own. When you are a mum, you need a mum to understand you. My volunteer made such a big difference to my life that when I started to cope better I decide that I wanted to do the same for someone else. I had been a young mum and I didn't want to be written off. Also I could empathise with other young mums."

In 2006 Chantal completed the Home-Start volunteer training course and since that time has supported six families of her own. Chantal says that she has first hand experience of just what Home-Stat can do for people, so when a job came up at Home-Start Merton, Chantal applied and was successful. What a long way Chantal has come, from a mother needing Home-Start support to a mother now working for the local Home-Start that supported her.

Photography: Photo essays by Immo Klink will be on display showing a day in the life of two volunteers visiting their families. Images from these essays will be available on request. Photography will be allowed at the event by prior arrangement.

Invitation: to attend the Volunteers Matter event and meet Home-Start volunteers, families, staff and guest speakers. The event starts at 18:00 on Tuesday 12 May 2009, and will be held at London's Living Room, Greater London Authority, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA. Please contact Jo McLeish, press & PR officer, Home-Start UK - 0116 258 7933 or jmcleish@home-start.org.uk. Mobile number for last minute contact: 07917 392130. High security at the venue means you will not be able to attend without prior contact with Home-Start.

Read all about the event - see speeches, photo essays and more.

Back to Top