What Homestart does
Home-Start helps families with young children deal with whatever life throws at them. We support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children. The
benefits of our support include improved health and well being and better family relationships.
Providing one-to-one support for parents
Our volunteers visit the family’s home for a couple of hours every week. They tailor-make their support to the needs of the parents and children. Volunteers are very committed and will keep
visiting until the youngest child turns five or starts school, or until the parents feel they can stand on their own two feet. Parents and volunteers often develop a deeply trusting
relationship which can lead to powerful change within the family.
We also run family groups and social events for families.
How we help!
At our special family service held on Christmas Eve at St Mary's, we ask everyone to bring a gift for child, unwrapped and if you feel you can supply some wrapping paper or a gift bag that would be appreciated too.
All gifts are taken away, gift wrapped and delivered to children by volunteers.
This service is always very well supported and the Homestart representative always leaves with a car bursting to the seams with Christmas presents to be distributed to families.
Christmas Eve Crib service
As usual, at our Christmas Eve Crib Service the church was full of excited children eagerly anticipating a wonderful day ahead. Once again an incredible amount of gifts, were donated by the congregation to Homestart.
It was wonderful to see how happy the children in the congregation were, to take these presents to the altar and try to help a child they had never met, to have the same joy filled Christmas they were looking forward to.
The volunteers would have had a very busy evening sorting through the presents and delivering them to families who for various reasons need their support. The children who woke up on Christmas morning to open the gifts donated to Homestart, were able to enjoy a Christmas filled with a little of the joy they deserved.
On behalf of Homestart we would like to thank everyone for their amazing generosity.