A terrible tragedy inspired father of four Paul Nolan to volunteer with Home-Start - the death of his mother in a house fire.

"It was as though my eyes had been opened," says Paul. "I decided that you have one life and I wanted to make my life better by making other people's lives better."

So Paul went from 'working more hours than there are in a week' as an area manager for a pub chain to a fully qualified health and social carer - and a Home-Start volunteer.

"I was attracted to Home-Start because I love children and I want to work with families, but I also knew it would help me towards my ultimate goal of being a social worker. The 10-week training course was impressive and the fact that Home-Start is a national organisation where I would get a lot of experience really appealed to me."

If Paul's career change is a success story, so is his work for Home-Start with Nikki, a young single mother to Jake.

"Nikki had split up with the baby's father, was quite isolated and needed someone to talk to. Speaking to her for the first time, I was struck by her lack of confidence and the negative view she had of herself.

"Now our meetings have changed. I used to offer Nikki advice and support, but now we talk about all the good things that are happening to her. Nikki now has a better relationship with her family and has found herself a job, a new network of friends and a healthy social life.

"Supporting Nikki has been very interesting and greatly rewarding. I have watched her change from a shy young person with very low self esteem into a chatty, confident young woman who is looking forward to a bright future with her son."

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