News Release
£211,000 Big Lottery Win for Home-Start Wales
19 April 2006
Families under pressure across Wales will benefit from the expansion of a parents' support charity after Home-Start Wales was granted nearly £211,000 by the Big Lottery Fund.
The three year grant, awarded under the Big Lottery Fund's Voluntary and Community Sector programme, will help the charity expand into ten more Welsh communities. There are also plans to open two new schemes; in Powys and Blaenau Gwent. There are currently 22 Home-Start schemes in Wales which offer home visiting support and help prevent family breakdown.
Home-Start is a national charity that recruits and trains volunteers to support parents with children under five years old. It is the leading family support charity in the UK. Its service is open to everyone and its home visiting work is unique. Last year in Wales 566 volunteers supported more than 2,000 families and more than 4,000 children.
Sara Vaughan, the newly appointed director for Home-Start Wales, said, "We now have the funds to employ a development worker to expand our support service. The need for more home visiting volunteers to provide Home-Start's unique blend of non-judgemental support for parents in their own homes is pressing."
"The grant will go a long way towards helping us expand our service. At the end of three years we should be able to support another 310 more families under stress."
"We also want to increase our home visiting volunteers and volunteer trustees (who manage each scheme) by 10%"
"Families are referred to Home-Start for a broad variety of reasons: isolation, physical or mental illness, disability, bereavement, multiple births, or simply finding parenthood difficult to cope with. We support them for anything from a couple of months to a number of years - as long as they need help and have at least one child under five," she continued.
Commenting on the impact these recent awards will have on communities across Wales, Big Lottery Fund Board Member for Wales, Hugh Vaughan Thomas, said: "It's great to be able to fund projects that make such a difference to the lives of many people in communities across Wales. Organisations such as this one are making huge strides in helping people and I'm delighted that this award will help them continue to do so for years to come."
People interested in setting up a Home-Start Schemes in their local area should phone 02920 491181, email: walesoffice@home-start.org.uk or log on to www.home-start.org.uk or http://www.home-start.org.uk/cymraeg/cymraeg to find out more.
ENDS
Contacts:
Sara Vaughan, director, Home-Start Wales, tel: 02920 491181 or 07717 836691
Annie O'Brian, Press and PR Manager, Home-Start UK, tel: 0870 220 6712.
Logos:
Home-Start and Big Lottery Fund bi-lingual logos available from Annie O'Brian, Press and PR Manager, Home-Start UK, tel: 0870 220 6712.
Welsh interviews:
We are sorry, we can't currently give broadcast interviews in Welsh.
Related press releases:
Newly appointed director for Wales
Home-Start's Welsh schemes:
Bangor, BANGOR
Bridgend, BRIDGEND
Butetown/ Grangetown/ Riverside, CARDIFF
Caerphilly Borough East, BLACKWOOD
Carmarthen & Llanelli, LLANELLI
Conwy, LLANDUDNO
Cwm Rhymni, BARGOED
Cymorth Ceredigion, ABERAERON
Denbighshire, DENBIGH
Dinefwr, AMMANFORD
Ely (Cardiff), CARDIFF
Flintshire, MOLD
Merthyr Tydfil, MERTHYR TYDFIL
Neath Port Talbot, NEATH
Newport, NEWPORT
Preseli, FISHGUARD
Rhondda\ Cynon\Taff, PONTYPRIDD
St Mellons, CARDIFF
Swansea, SWANSEA
Torfaen, TORFAEN
Wrexham, WREXHAM
Ynys Mon, HOLYHEAD
Families under pressure across Wales will benefit from the expansion of a parents' support charity after Home-Start Wales was granted nearly £211,000 by the Big Lottery Fund.
The three year grant, awarded under the Big Lottery Fund's Voluntary and Community Sector programme, will help the charity expand into ten more Welsh communities. There are also plans to open two new schemes; in Powys and Blaenau Gwent. There are currently 22 Home-Start schemes in Wales which offer home visiting support and help prevent family breakdown.
Home-Start is a national charity that recruits and trains volunteers to support parents with children under five years old. It is the leading family support charity in the UK. Its service is open to everyone and its home visiting work is unique. Last year in Wales 566 volunteers supported more than 2,000 families and more than 4,000 children.
Sara Vaughan, the newly appointed director for Home-Start Wales, said, "We now have the funds to employ a development worker to expand our support service. The need for more home visiting volunteers to provide Home-Start's unique blend of non-judgemental support for parents in their own homes is pressing."
"The grant will go a long way towards helping us expand our service. At the end of three years we should be able to support another 310 more families under stress."
"We also want to increase our home visiting volunteers and volunteer trustees (who manage each scheme) by 10%"
"Families are referred to Home-Start for a broad variety of reasons: isolation, physical or mental illness, disability, bereavement, multiple births, or simply finding parenthood difficult to cope with. We support them for anything from a couple of months to a number of years - as long as they need help and have at least one child under five," she continued.
Commenting on the impact these recent awards will have on communities across Wales, Big Lottery Fund Board Member for Wales, Hugh Vaughan Thomas, said: "It's great to be able to fund projects that make such a difference to the lives of many people in communities across Wales. Organisations such as this one are making huge strides in helping people and I'm delighted that this award will help them continue to do so for years to come."
People interested in setting up a Home-Start Schemes in their local area should phone 02920 491181, email: walesoffice@home-start.org.uk or log on to www.home-start.org.uk or http://www.home-start.org.uk/cymraeg/cymraeg to find out more.
ENDS
Contacts:
Sara Vaughan, director, Home-Start Wales, tel: 02920 491181 or 07717 836691
Annie O'Brian, Press and PR Manager, Home-Start UK, tel: 0870 220 6712.
Logos:
Home-Start and Big Lottery Fund bi-lingual logos available from Annie O'Brian, Press and PR Manager, Home-Start UK, tel: 0870 220 6712.
Welsh interviews:
We are sorry, we can't currently give broadcast interviews in Welsh.
Related press releases:
Newly appointed director for Wales
Home-Start's Welsh schemes:
Bangor, BANGOR
Bridgend, BRIDGEND
Butetown/ Grangetown/ Riverside, CARDIFF
Caerphilly Borough East, BLACKWOOD
Carmarthen & Llanelli, LLANELLI
Conwy, LLANDUDNO
Cwm Rhymni, BARGOED
Cymorth Ceredigion, ABERAERON
Denbighshire, DENBIGH
Dinefwr, AMMANFORD
Ely (Cardiff), CARDIFF
Flintshire, MOLD
Merthyr Tydfil, MERTHYR TYDFIL
Neath Port Talbot, NEATH
Newport, NEWPORT
Preseli, FISHGUARD
Rhondda\ Cynon\Taff, PONTYPRIDD
St Mellons, CARDIFF
Swansea, SWANSEA
Torfaen, TORFAEN
Wrexham, WREXHAM
Ynys Mon, HOLYHEAD
