Volunteer for Home-Start

By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.

Becoming a Home-Start volunteer

If you are a parent, a carer, or maybe a grandparent, you know just how tough family life can be at times.
And we know it too. Our volunteers, who have parenting experience, help families with all sorts of problems, from the everyday to the overwhelming. Problems such as:

  • Loneliness and isolation
  • Relationship difficulties
  • Coping with several pre-school children
  • Ill health, disability or special needs
  • Lone parenting
  • Coping with bereavement
  • Post-natal illness
  • Children’s behavioural issues

Please note that this list is anything but exhaustive.

What do volunteers actually do?

Our volunteers will usually visit a parent in their home once a week for a couple of hours. How they help is really down to the needs of the family. Some might need a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on, someone to have a laugh with. Others may need help keeping appointments or accessing local services and ‘connecting’ with their local community.

Our volunteers can provide an extra pair of hands to help people cope with everyday parenting situations, or practical help with activities like playing or reading stories.

Home-Start’s approach is very personal and friendly and this often reassures parents that what they’re going through is not unusual, that they are not alone.

What can’t our volunteers do?

Unfortunately volunteers can’t….

  • provide a babysitting service
  • clean up/provide practical help at every visit
  • care for children in the absence of parents
  • carry out intimate care of children.

So who are our volunteers?

They are people just like you – ordinary people who understand just how hard it can be to bring up young children. They all have parenting experience – some are young, others are not so young – and they come from many different backgrounds. Some have even been helped by Home-Start themselves.

Do you need any qualifications to be a volunteer?

The only real ‘qualification’ you need to become a Home-Start volunteer is experience of bringing up children. You will be friendly and understanding and have a practical approach to problems. You don’t judge people, you accept them for what they are and then strive to support them as they try to give their children the best possible start in life.

Do you have what it takes to be a Home-Start volunteer?  Are keen to help parents and children in your community? Please download an expression of interest form to start your journey transforming lives in your area.
Application form

Training to be a Home-Start volunteer

You will be thoroughly trained and supported before and during your time with a family, and can expect:

An induction to Home-Start’s service

  • 21 hours of preparation training, run over 6 weeks, before meeting your first family
  • Regular support and supervision sessions
  • Paid expenses during training and while you support a family
  • On-going training throughout your time as a volunteer.

Volunteer testimonials

“I think the work we do is invaluable. It is rewarding, fun and a fabulous service. The scheme is well run and the support we provide is such a help and addition to the families’ needs”
Current volunteer

“The support from Home-Start far exceeds that of other charities I have worked with and for that reason I am now devoting all my time to Home-Start”
Current volunteer

“Home-Start exceeded my expectations & I was truly impressed by the level of professionalism of the organisations training & support. THANK YOU.”
Retired volunteer

Other ways to volunteer for Home-Start

From play groups to fundraising balls and social events, there are many opportunities for willing hands.
Many local Home-Starts run additional services to support their work, such as:

  • play groups
  • toy libraries
  • specialist groups for single dads, breast feeding mums, or families affected by post natal depression
  • healthy eating sessions
  • social activities like trips to parks, farms or the seaside, cinema nights, and more
  • helping with fundraising – from quiz nights, crochet sessions and raffles to toddle-a-thons or glitzy fundraising balls
  • drivers for families who are stuck without transport
  • and so much more

It may also be that you can volunteer in a way that your local Home-Start hasn’t thought about yet.

So if you want to get involved, get in touch and let us know what you have in mind.

Could you help plan and oversee how each Home-Start will support families in your community? Being a Trustee is all about the governance of the charity.

Trustees serve on the governing body (board) of a charity and are responsible for directing the management and administration of it.

Search here for current Trustee vacancies.

You would have a wide range of duties and be responsible for making the charity effective, providing overall direction and maintaining sound management of funds. We have more than 2,300 trustees who volunteer their time and skills. Could you provide:

  • general business management?
  • financial and legal expertise?
  • IT knowledge?
  • human resources experience?
  • PR & media skills?
  • knowledge of family support issues in the community?

Then we’d love to hear from you.

You would carry out out a wide range of duties and be responsible for making the charity effective, providing overall direction and the sound management of funds.  You would commit to a minimum of 20 hours a month.

Become a Home-Start Volunteer Today

Home-Start’s team of trained volunteers make sure a child’s early years count. By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.

 

Find out moreDownload application form