Need support?

Who can Home-Start help?

  • Lonely or isolated parents
  • Families with twins or several pre-school children
  • Families where there is ill health or disability/special needs
  • Families who have suffered bereavement
  • Mums who have post-natal depression
  • Mums who need support with breastfeeding
  • Families who are new to the area
  • Families from all backgrounds
  • Lone parents

In short, any family with at least one child under 5, who is experiencing difficulties, can ask Home-Start for help.

How can Home-Start help?

  • Friendly support through difficult times for as long as is helpful or needed
  • Flexibility - you decide with your volunteer when visits will happen and how you spend the time
  • Understanding - Home-Start volunteers are parents too! Some may have been supported by Home-Start themselves, or wish they could have been.
  • Reassurance - all parents sometimes feel overwhelmed, you are not alone
  • A listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, if needed!
  • An extra pair of hands - coping with more than one child may make getting out and about tricky, a Home-Start volunteer could provide the help and support you need
  • Confidentiality - information about you and your family is never disclosed to anyone outside of Home-Start (except where a child may be at risk)
  • Choice - families choose whether or not to accept Home-Start support. A volunteer will only visit at the invitation of the family.

What happens next?

Initially, a co-ordinator will come out to meet you, and answer any questions you may have over a cup of tea. They will then arrange to contact you after a few days to see how you feel about Home-Start support. If you decide to go ahead, they will come to see you again, to complete the paperwork necessary to process your referral. After a few visits, you will be introduced to a volunteer, and, if you hit it off, begin to receive weekly visits. The co-ordinator will still keep in touch, and we will always be available if you need us.

Who will know that Home-Start is supporting me?

The only people who will know are you, staff at Home-Start, your volunteer and the person who referred you to us.  All information is treated in the strictest confidence except where a child is perceived to be at risk of harm.

How long is Home-Start needed?

Some families will need to be visited for only a few months, whilst others will need support ofr much longer.  As long as there is a need and at least one child under five we are happy to be involved.

How do I find out more?

For more information please feel free to contact us using the form provided, or telephone on 0151 647 8369.   Alternatively you could ask a family member or close friend to contact us, or ask your health visitor / local childrens centre for more details.

My volunteer is absolutely fantastic.  Home-Start could not have matched us better.  It's very hard to accept help and let a stranger into your home, to play with your children and to open up emotionally.  The fact that I knew she was a volunteer and a mother herself made it less stressful.  The girls and I have made a great friend.

Home-Start family

I was at my lowest; I had a hundred and one things to do; the kids were playing up and I just felt like screaming.  Then P turned up - my Guardian Angel.  She made me laugh and the whole mood in the house changed.  She's great.

Home-Start family