Who can Home-Start help?

If you are mum, dad or carer with a child under five, and are finding things tough at the moment, you can ask for free help.

Our volunteers help parents going through difficult times including:

• Loneliness and isolation
• Relationship difficulties
• Coping with twins, triplets or several pre-school children
• Ill health, disability or special needs
• Lone parenting
• First-time parenthood or new babies
• Postnatal illness
• Children's behavioural problems

What do volunteers do?

A Home-Start volunteer will visit you regularly (usually once a week for a couple of hours) and offer:

• Friendly support through difficult times for as long as you need help
• Understanding that when bringing up children, problems are not unusual
• Reassurance that you are not alone
• A listening ear and a shoulder to cry on
• An extra pair of hands to help you cope with everyday situations
• Practical help with activities like playing or story time

Who are the volunteers?

Home-Start volunteers are people from different backgrounds and vary in age, but all have parenting experience. They:

• Will visit you in your own home and accept you as you are
• Are carefully selected for their friendliness, practical approach and understanding
• Have been approved and have all attended a course of preparation before being matched with families

Many of our volunteers have been helped by Home-Start themselves.

Will anyone else find out?

Home-Start support is confidential. Personal information about you and your family is not disclosed to anyone outside Home-Start without your consent, except where there is a concern about the safety or welfare of a child.

What if I change my mind?

You choose whether or not to accept Home-Start support and can change your mind at any time. A volunteer will only visit on your invitation.

What Next?

If you are a family with at least one child under five you can ask for help. To find out if Home-Start can help you can:

• Contact Us using the information at the top of the page
• Talk to your Health Visitor, Midwife or GP
• Ask a Social Worker
• Ask a friend or family member to contact the scheme for you

What about Group Support?

We hold a family drop-in session on Thursdays from 1pm – 3pm during term time in the Ark Room at Minehead Baptist Church. This is an informal and relaxed opportunity for parents to get together for a coffee and a chat and for children to play together in a safe and stimulating environment. You are very welcome.