Volunteers

Make a difference and become a Home-Start volunteer!
As a parent, you'll know just how tough it can sometimes be. Did you sometimes long to have someone to talk to, to confide in or just to share a coffee and a chat with? Home-Start offers this kind of support.

Our carefully trained volunteers, who all have experience of bringing up children, give emotional and practical help to any parent with at least one child under five. By visiting a family in their own home and offering friendship, Home-Start volunteers represent a lifeline for many families who are finding it hard to cope.

You could have exactly the skills needed to make a difference to a family living locally.

Will I be the right sort of person to support a family?
Home-Start volunteers are all ages and from all walks of life. All we ask of them is that they have experience of bringing up children and can spare between two and four hours a week.

What would visiting a family involve?
This varies. You could spend time with a young parent, helping to build their confidence as they adapt to life with a small baby or share an outing with a family who finds getting out of the house difficult. The visits might involve offering an extra pair of hands to a family with several children or providing a listening ear to a mother who is suffering from post-natal illness.

Being a Home-Start volunteer means offering friendship to parents and spending time with families in a way that meets their needs.
What will I gain from being a Home-Start volunteer?

• You will be helping a family to cope with the pressures they are facing and make a real difference to the lives of parents and their children.
• You will receive support and training to prepare you for all aspects of your role with Home-Start.
• You will make new friends and have lots of fun.
• You will receive out of pocket expenses.
• You will develop new skills and have some wonderful experience to add to your CV.

If I'm not a parent, can I still get involved?
Yes you can. We always need volunteers, parent or non-parents, who could support schemes by helping with fundraising activities or joining local management committees and getting involved in the running of schemes. For these roles you would not need to be a parent.