The true impact of the pandemic

To capture the experiences of families and understand the real and lasting impact of the pandemic, Home-Start conducted an online survey of over 1,200 parents. Our report Home Is Where We Start From details the findings and shows the devastating impact of lockdown and how it’s left families feeling isolated, worried about their child’s development and concerned about finances.

The report findings also show the positive impact of Home-Start support during this time with nine out of ten parents believing that Home-Start made a positive difference to their family and eight out of ten parents said they felt more comfortable getting support from a volunteer than a professional. 

Peter Grigg, Chief Executive at Home-Start UK said: 

"Our amazing volunteers found so many ways to be there for families despite not being able to visit in homes.

Our survey shows us just how important a lifeline this is for families, but I do worry about families who don’t have the support available in their communities. Ideally, we would want Home-Start support to be available for every family who needs us.”

The report revealed challenges faced by parents during the pandemic:

87% say parenting has been more challenging

75% report isolation as their biggest challenge

64% are concerned about their child's lack of social interaction

The report demonstrated the impact of Home-Start support:

95% of parents said Home-Start listened to them

91% of parents believe that Home-Start has made a positive difference to family life

83% of parents said that Home-Start has been a lifeline during the pandemic

Read the full report: "Home is Where We Start From" June 2021

Thank You

The pandemic has magnified existing difficulties and made life so much harder for those already struggling. We want to say 'thank you'  to all of our supporters for standing by Home-Start UK during the past year.

Your support has meant we could continue to support families and help them navigate their way through a world in crisis. Now, we turn our attention to building back better, fairer and kinder.

Tackling loneliness and isolation

While the pandemic has certainly made things worse, sadly for many of our families, loneliness and isolation existed for a long time before COVID-19 and will continue long after the pandemic has ended.

The Scottish Government Winter Plan supported 29 local Home-Starts across Scotland with £150,000 to boost support to families suffering loneliness and isolation.

Read Family Matters: Our Covid Year

Subscribe to Family Matters and receive the magazine for FREE in the post