Home-Start
| Published: 27th January 2007 16:08 |
Home-Start Helps More Than 33,000 Families with Young Children Every Year Home-Start's informal and friendly support for families with young children provides a lifeline to thousands of parents and children in over 35 communities across the UK and with forces families in Germany and Cyprus.
Home-Start's support is free, confidential and non-judgemental. In fact, almost 25% of their families refer themselves - which speaks for itself. Home-Start helps to increase the confidence and independence of families by:
• Visiting families in their own homes to offer support, friendship and practical assistance
• Reassuring parents that their childcare problems are not unusual or unique
• Encouraging parents' strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their children
• Trying to get the fun back into family life
Home-Start volunteers, who have parenting experience themselves, can offer:
• Precious time for listening and talking
• Help with the children
• A break for parents
• Practical help and reassurance
• A chance to meet other parents in the same boat
• Support to use local services and resources
Parents ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:
• They may feel isolated in their community, have no family nearby and be struggling to make friends
• They may be finding it hard to cope because of their own or a child's physical or mental illness
• They may have been hit hard by the death of a loved one
• They may be really struggling the with emotional and physical demands of having twins or triplets - perhaps born into an already already large family
Do You Need Support?
As a parent you might ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:
• You may be feeling isolated in your community, have no family nearby and be struggling to make friends.
• You may be finding it hard to cope because of your own or your child's illness.
• You may have been hit hard by the death of a loved one
• You may be really struggling the with emotional and physical demands of having twins or triplets - perhaps born into an already large family
Help is at hand. Home-Start supports any family who needs it as long as they have at least one child under five.
But what do they mean by 'support'? If you ask for Home-Start's help you can be sure of total confidentiality. There is no stigma attached to Home-Start's help - the fact that almost 25% of their families refer themselves is proof of that.
After asking for their support you will meet with one of their local organisers who will carefully match you with one of their volunteers. Their volunteers, who all have parenting experience, will visit you for a couple of hours a week and give you both emotional and practical help.
What do I do next?
• Contact your local Scheme direct:
Units 9 & 10 The Old Mining College Centre Queen Street
CHASETOWN
Staffordshire
WS7 4QH
Tel: 01543 301 128
Fax: 01543 301 129
Email: kevin@homestart-lichfield.info
• Talk to your GP or Health Visitor
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