What is Home-Start?
Home-Start is a National Charity that recruits and trains volunteers to help families with young children.
Volunteers who know about being a parent, support other parents. It's a simple idea that really works. We've been going for 34 years and work in local communities right across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Homestart International also helps families worldwide. Home-Start Newham is a small but important part of this organisation which serves the local communities in the Newham area. Home-Start Newham recruits and trains volunteers to work with families with a least one child under 5 years of age. Volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to families under stress, in their own homes, helping prevent family crisis and breakdowns.
Why do families need Home-Start?
In an ideal world there wouldn't be any need for Home-Start
Friends, family and communities would support those young parents who, for a variety of reasons sometimes find it difficult to cope with the problems life throws at them. But life isn't ideal - or easy - and more families than ever before need our help.
As well as the age-old problems that have always confronted children and parents - illness, disability, bereavement and lonliness - we at Home-Start Newham increasingly support teenage mothers, single fathers, refugees, asylum-seekers and those affected by poverty, abuse, violence, drugs and social isolation.
The outcomes can often be spectacular thanks to the unique and very personal way in which Home-Start works - parent-to-parent volunteer support in a family's own home. All parents know those early years before children go off to school are vital in a child's development and that children thrive in a secure and happy environment.
At Home-Start we believe parents have the key role in creating that secure childhood. It's just that sometimes they need a bit of help. That's where Home-Start volunteers come in.
Is there a typical Home-Start Volunteer?
Absolutely not.
Volunteers come from all walks of life - from teenage mothers who help other young mums and parents whose children have just started school to 'empty-nesters' and grandparents. The only qualification is that you have to be a parent or have parenting experience - perhaps as a step-parent or carer for siblings.
We like to think that above all else volunteers are the kind of people our families would choose themselves as a friend. So, friendliness and a caring attitude are essential as well as an understanding of the pressures of parenting. we value people who don't judge others; people who will respect the fact that they have been invitied into a family's home; people who will treat a mother or father as equal. It is essential to enjoy the company of children and to be reliable and trustworthy and, of course, it helps to be a good listener.
What kind of families will I be visiting?
Again, there's no 'typical' Home-Start family.
We work with families who may have problems or difficulties from time to time, but they are not 'problem' families. We help families who live in poverty and deprivation but also support parents who have no money worries and have professional occupations.
The common factor is that it doesn't matter who you are or where you live, bringing up a younf family is often hard. The kind of difficulties that can hit any family at any time include post-natal depression, the birth of twins or triplets into an already large family, disability, bereavement, illness and social isolation. That family could be anyone, anywhere - the next street, the next house, our own home.
That's when a Home-Start volunteer is needed as a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, a friend, often a vital contact with the outside world
What would I be doing during a typical home visit?
A typical Home-Start visit is hard to define because every familiy's needs are different but it might include:
Our volunteers are not babysitters, home-helps or councellors although from time to time they may perform all of those tasks. They work with families and avoid doing things for them. They offer a mixture of practical help and emotional support. Once volunteers have been matched with a family our paid organisers keep in regular touch to support them as they support their family.
Will I be thrown in at the deep end?
Definitely not!
Once you have decided to volunteer and have been accepted on our Volunteer Preparation Course you will have weekly sessions with other volunteers, usually for 8-10 weeks. The are often held during the day in school time but simetimes there are evening and weekend courses. Some potential volunteers relish the idea of a training course - others are slightly wary . Will I fit in? Will I be able to follow it? Will there be lots of written work? There's no need to worry - you are already qualified to be a Home-Start volunteer if you have parenting experience - we are just preparing you for the practicalities of home-visiting.
During our Preparation Course you'll have the chance to look at some of the situations you might find yourself in as a home-visiting volunteerand there are sessions on child protection, confidentiality and health and safety. The course is informal, relaxed and fun and you'll meet all kinds of people. And it won't cost you a penny - all expenses are paid throughout training and during home- visiting. Sometimes child care costs during training will also be paid.
Some of our volunteers are also able to use their Home-Start training and experience as a springboard into further education and paid employment - sometimes within Home-Start as part of paid Scheme staff or in related careers such as childcare and social welfare.