Homestart

Home-Start follows its common standards and methods of practice to support families with at least one child under five within the Sure Start program across the County Borough of Wrexham, with particular emphasis on referrals for families living within the 3 defined focus areas of Caia Park, Gwersyllt and Plas Madoc.

Its Sure Start project has 10 volunteers working with between 10 and 15 families at any one time, offering either home visiting support or group support according to the families needs.

With the support of a Home-Start volunteer vulnerable families are enabled to access other services both within the Sure Start program and their own community. Once a month the Sure Start Welfare Rights officer visits a Home-Start group situation to offer assistance with benefits claims, many families have been able to increase their weekly income in this way.

Toys and books from the programs Toy Library are made more accessible to families by their availability either within a Home-Start group situation or by volunteers giving advice and information about their existence and use.

Home visiting volunteers can help families to put into practice the parenting and education advice given them by other professionals within the program, reassuring them that they are doing it right, encouraging them to stick at it when it takes longer then anticipated and assuring them that it will work eventually.

Why is Home-Start Needed?

Bringing up a family today can be tough. It can be stressful, difficult and exhausting. Add in problems such as illness, loneliness and isolation, take away the support of close family members and friends and the difficulties can seem overwhelming.

What is Home-Start?

Home-Start's simple approach is to offer the support of one trained parent volunteer to another parent who is facing difficulties and has at least one child under five. The friendship, practical and emotional support provided by the volunteer in the family's own home enables parents to cope with the pressures they are facing and reduces the potential for family crisis.

What does it do?

Home-Start in Wrexham and Sure Start:-

• recruits volunteers from the local community.

• prepares them for their role as a Home-Start Volunteer.

• supports them through their relationship with a family.

It offers a range of services to support families:-

Home Visiting:-Volunteers are matched with families who they visit regularly, usually once a week, in their own homes. They offer practical and emotional support to encourage family strengths.

Family Group Sessions:-A once a week group provision provides transport to and from the venue, a registered sessional creche facility for children and a parents group offering a range of topics including cookery and craft.

Drop in Sessions:-A once a week group provision were volunteers provide play facilities for young children and refreshments, reassurance and chat for new parents

Issues Coffee Mornings:-A once a month group provision when volunteers provide a creche facility so parents can join in group discussions on topics of interest, usually led by a visiting speaker.

Clothes Store:-A stock of nearly new clothes for children and adults is held in the schemes administration base. Families can draw from the store or donate as appropriate.

Newsletter:-A quarterly newsletter giving families information on topics of interest to parents and details of locally arranged events.

Outings:-A summer outing giving families and volunteers the opportunity to enjoy a day out together at a venue suggested by parents and volunteers..

Adult Training:-The opportunity to take part in training sessions on topics of interest to parents, either within the organisation or provided locally.

All of these services are available to families who are referred to the scheme through the Sure Start program.

How Do Volunteers Help?

Volunteers support families in many different ways, freely offering their Friendship along side emotional and practical support. No two families receive the same support, as volunteers respond spontaneously to the needs of the family offering support as and when necessary.

Regular Support

Usually they visit on a weekly basis, sometimes they visit more often, many of them phone their families in between visits and some families will attend either one or both of the groups the scheme runs.

Friendship

They show their friendship to families in many different ways, sending cards to mark birthdays, anniversaries, births, weddings, christenings, death. They offer support to their families outside of normal office hours and build up a sharing trusting relationship.

Emotional Support

Families tell us the volunteers most valuable role is the listening role, whether they are concerned about relationships within or without the home, finance, health issues, education, or housing .

Practical Support

Volunteers offer hands on support in many different ways. Helping families to keep appointments, providing an extra pair of hands to carry out tasks or help with children, providing childcare in and away from the home to give parents a much needed rest and being along side them while they deal with difficult situations or behavior.

Advice, Information and Advocacy

Volunteers can be a source of information and advice encouraging families to make best use of the community resources available. On occasions they will act as advocates for their families helping them to deal with difficult situations.

How are Families Referred to Home-Start

The scheme has an open referral policy, which invites referrals from, a variety of sources including professionals, the public and families them selves. The main referrers are Health Visitors, Social Workers, Health Workers, Voluntary Organisations and Families themselves.

Referrals are made on a standard form and each referral must be agreed and signed by the family concerned.

New Project Developments

As part of its commitment to the Sure Start program in Wrexham Home-Start is taking the lead in an initiative to increase support for fathers.

It is facilitating a working party looking at the development of a group to support Fathers. This group is in the initial stages of information gathering, looking at existing services, talking to parents about what they want and researching other Father support services else where in the country. It is hoping to hold a Fathers and children day in the Summer of 2002 as a launch.

Home-Start County Borough of Wrexham is based at :-

The Salvation Army
Garden Road
Rhosddu
Wrexham
LL11 7NU

Telephone: 01978 366660