Registered office: Bridgewater House, Surrey Road, Nelson, BB9 7TZ. Registered charity no. 1106092
WHAT IS HOME-START?
Mission Statement
Home-Start offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children, in local communities throughout the UK.
Home-Start offers a unique service, recruiting and training volunteers – who are usually parents themselves – to visit families at home to offer informal, friendly and confidential support.
To help give children the best possible start in life, Home-Start supports parents as they grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children and widen their links with the local community.
Home-Start Pendle & Ribble Valley
Home-Start Pendle & Ribble Valley is a voluntary organisation affiliated to Home-Start UK, offering informal, friendly support to parents with at least one child under twelve. Home-Start knows how hard being a parent can be, especially during the early years, and that any additional pressure can sometimes make things seem overwhelming.
Establishment
Home-Start Pendle was established in December 2000, following consultation across the Borough of Pendle. Initially the scheme was intended to operate in Nelson but the steering group decided to extend the area to include Colne and the whole Pendle area and now includes the Ribble Valley.
Work with Families
The families we help come from a wide variety of different socio-economic backgrounds and need support for different reasons, for example: post-natal illness, loneliness, relationship problems, disability or the demands of coping with several small children. Families are often referred to Home-Start by their health visitor, GP or social worker but some people contact their scheme directly.
A Home-Start volunteer supports the family for as long as the family feels they need it. This can be over a period of weeks, months or even years. Volunteers in turn are supported and supervised by paid staff. The service is free and confidential and families may choose to end the relationship at any time.
A volunteer’s role varies according to each family’s needs but it could include: time for talking and listening; help with children; a break for parents; reassurance; help for parents to keep appointments; support to use other local resources and services.
Funding
A successful bid was submitted to the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Programme in 2006 and 5 year funding commenced in 2007. Further bids for 3 year projects were successful in 2012 and 2015, securing Big Lottery funding until 2018. Additional funding was also secured from Primary Care Trust, LCC, the Henry Smith Charity and Lloyds TSB.
In July 2008 funding was secured from Primary Care Trust, Lancashire County Council, Ribble Valley Council and Ribblesdale Children’s Centre to develop a service in the Ribble Valley.
The scheme was successful in a bid in 2013 to the Big Lottery for a second project supporting families with children over 5. Some further funding will need to be secured both to develop and maintain the level of service during the forthcoming years
Organisation details
The scheme is managed by a Volunteer Management Committee, chaired by Beryl Corbridge. The Committee comprises a range of members with a range of relevant skills and experience. The staff team consists of Kishwar Mahmood, Scheme Manager; Julie Raine, Senior Co-ordinator, Sarah Sheldon, Carrie Haworth, Rachael Tunnacliffe and Shahida AliCo-ordinators; and Lesley Farrington, Project Support Worker; Katherine Ashworth and Heather Starkie, Administrators with support from Margaret Foster. Anne Edington and Aashiya Patel are hosted by the scheme for the Genetics Outreach Project. The scheme operates from Bridgewater House, Surrey Lane, Nelson, BB9 7TZ and De Lacy House, Station Road, Clitheroe BB7 2JT