Accessing local services It's one of our most important roles and we may be able to help you. Expand There are lots of different organisations that provide support to families, but it can sometimes be difficult to find out about the ones that can help you. One of the most important roles played by our volunteers is to help people access local services. Home-Start helps families to access their local: Children’s Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, local mental health services, doctors and dentists, housing and financial advice, or illness, addiction or disability support groups. There are lots of ways that a volunteer could help you: talking to you and informing you about the services that are out there taking care of children while you attend an appointment, helping with transport so you can reach the service you need.
Are there any reasons why Home-Start will not be able to support me? Expand We’d love to be able to help absolutely everyone who asks, but we are a charity and sometimes we just can't. We won’t be able to help: if all our volunteers are already supporting other families, if there is not enough funding to train more volunteers, if you have a very complex set of problems and we don’t have a really experienced volunteer available, if you need more support than our befriending volunteers can give – in which case we’ll always recommend other kinds of support for you, and put you in touch if we can, if there is some reason our volunteer would not be safe supporting you.
Barbara Firth Expand Barbara Firth has a background in health and social services organisations as a practitioner, manager and educator. For the last thirty years she has been an independent trainer and consultant with a focus on safeguarding and the development of policy and practice in child welfare. Barbara’s work has included the design and delivery of training courses for a wide range of managers and practitioners; audits; service evaluations and supervision and consultancy for senior managers in Health Services and Children’s Services. She also undertakes Serious Case Reviews and has helped to develop new approaches for reviewing cases of serious child and adult harm. At a local level Barbara is active in the voluntary sector and is a founder member of Aylesbury Women’s Aid. Barbara is Home-Start UK's Lead Safeguarding Trustee
Bushra Ahmed Expand Bushra Ahmed is an experienced board trustee, business woman and community activist, with a wide cross-sector network, as well as over 20 years of experience in community engagement. Currently she holds positions as Director at the Sheila Mckeknie Foundation, the Survivors Advisory Forum for the National Emergencies Trust and the Victim Care Improvement Forum at the Met Police, as well as being a Civic Futures Leader at the GLA. Bushra is the founder of West Croydon Voice, set up after her family business was destroyed in the 2011 Riots, to fight for the victims rights to compensation. She is a public speaker, mentor and strategic consultant, and uses her lived experience to advise on issues around diversity, inclusion and cultural awareness.
Christine Champman Expand Christine Chapman has a leadership background across the private, public, and charitable sector, supporting parents and families in Health and Children's Services. Her roles have included leading on learning and development, volunteer management, quality assurance, service evaluation and income generation. She has close links with Home-Start since the 1990’s as both an employee and trustee including as Manager of Home-Start Waverley and Business Development Director of Home-Start Hampshire. Christine is currently a freelance trainer and consultant, with a focus on supporting emotional health and well-being. Previously she has been a governor of local schools and was a trustee of Dystonia UK, supporting families living with the neurological disorder. Christine also has an interest in Heritage with a Masters in Heritage Management. She has worked for Historic England and volunteers for the National Trust in her free time.
Do you support families like mine? Expand We can support: Lone parents, married couples, unmarried couples, grandparents caring for their grandchildren, older parents, teen-parents, step-parents, adoptive parents, families where a parent is in the armed forces, families where a parent is in prison, families where social care or other agencies are involved, wealthy families, families where the money is tight ... ....in any location, or for any gender, ethnicity or asylum/immigration status, ...and many others in different situations.
Euan Wilmshurst Expand Euan Wilmshurst runs his own consultancy, KW Strategy, based out of Billund in Denmark, and has extensive experience across philanthropy, NGOs and the private sector. Currently, Euan holds a portfolio of advisory and board roles across the global education and early childhood sector, shaping strategies for organisations such as Education.org, the Global Schools Forum, Street Child & Cambridge Partnership for Education, and serving on the boards of HomeStart UK, STIR Education and Nudel Kart. In his previous role as a member of the LEGO Foundation’s global leadership team, he was responsible for advocacy, partner engagement, and external communications, focusing on the transformative power of learning through play in education and early childhood development. Euan has twice served on the board of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) representing the private sector and private philanthropy. He has also been an advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative’s Education Working Group and DFID’s Girls Education Challenge, providing strategic guidance in international education policy and development.
Faiza Waheed Expand Faiza Waheed is a senior finance leader with significant experience in the National Health Service. Most recently she was Deputy Chief Finance Officer at a clinical commissioning group in South London and has worked with stakeholders across the public sector. In addition to deep sector experience in the health sector, she also has senior level auditing experience in the private sector. Faiza has advised committees and boards on risks in all areas. She brings strong financial scrutiny, risk management and change management skills. At a local level Faiza is active in the voluntary sector in particular with Kids First (Merton Mencap) in South London. She is passionate about making a difference for families, especially during the childhood years.
Free voluntary confidential support Home-Start support is completely free, you do not have to pay for any of our support and support is entirely voluntary. Expand Home-Start support is completely free, you do not have to pay for any of our support and it is entirely voluntary. It might be suggested to you by a health visitor, a doctor or another professional but it is entirely up to you if you want to work with Home-Start. We will match you with a volunteer. Our staff are very experienced in matching families with volunteers who they think will understand your situation and be able to work with you. If either you or the volunteer is not happy you can end the relationship and try another match. Finally, all of our support is confidential. You don’t have to tell anyone that you are being supported by Home-Start, and we will never tell anyone else unless you say that we can.
Group support Fun for your children and great for you too - sometimes tailored for your specific needs. Expand Family Groups Many Home-Starts run family groups. They are held regularly, at a local venue, where you and your children can come along and meet other families. Your children get the chance to play, learn and have fun with other children and with different books and toys. You get the chance to meet and talk to other parents – and many parents discover they are going through the same kinds of experiences and feel less alone. Many of the staff and volunteers running Home-Start groups have also been home-visiting volunteers. Their groups are a great place for parents to pick up advice, tips and help from Home-Start and other parents. Other Groups Some local Home-Starts also run groups to help parents and children through specific hard times - such as postnatal illness, being a single dad, being a single mum or being a teenage parent. Some run healthy eating or debt relief sessions to help families cope. The groups are organised according to local need, so contact your local Home-Start to find out if they run any.
Home visiting You decide what you will do together. They can help you with practical tasks, offer advice, or support you through emotional issues. Expand A Home-Start volunteer will visit you in your own home, usually once a week, for a couple of hours. You decide what you will do together. They can help you with practical tasks, offer advice and share their experience of being a parent or support you through emotional issues. Home-visiting volunteers: help you establish routines for you and your children while you’re going through such a huge change to your life play and read with your children listen to your worries, concerns and hopes for your family be there because they want to be – not because someone has ‘sent’ them offer a shoulder to cry on share their own experiences of parenting and family life give you a break offer advice if you ask for it provide support, friendship and encouragement help you get to appointments help you access benefits, grants and financial support help you use local services or specialist support help you get involved with your local community Our volunteers are parents themselves. They are all trained and criminal records are checked before being carefully matched with any family.
How do I get Home-Start’s help? Expand If you think that you could benefit from the support of a Home-Start volunteer then you can get in touch with your local Home-Start yourself - you can find your nearest Home-Start here and call, email or see their website. Other people may be referred to their local Home-Start by a health visitor, doctor or other professional. More information for professionals who want to refer a family.
I’m sure other families need help more than me. Expand Perhaps... But if you are struggling when your children are young, we will try to help. Don’t think that your problems are not severe enough to ask. If we can’t help you, we’ll try to recommend others who might be able to.
If someone has referred me to Home-Start do I have to take it? Expand No, Home-Start’s support is entirely voluntary and confidential - whether you decide to use Home-Start or not, this will not affect any other support you may be receiving.
Is there a Home-Start near me? Expand We work from Guernsey to Orkney and from Ipswich to Enniskillen, and even in British Forces Bases in Cyprus. Find out if we are supporting families near you. There are over 200 local Home-Starts in communities across the four nations of the United Kingdom. To find your closest Home-Start use our online map for their contact details and web address.