Being a Home-Start Volunteer...
Being a volunteer can boost confidence and self-esteem, gives a sense of purpose, enables you to meet new people, improves health and well-being, looks great on your CV and can create more FUN in your life.
This is how a volunteer describes her experience:-
"Knowing I am helping a family is a boost to my self-esteem and gives me a feel-good factor. It's been good to build rapport and trust at our meetings, usually the same day and time each week. Helping a family for no monetary gain, just giving your time is good for my mind set and gives a personal reward all of its own."
Join 16,000 other Home-Start volunteers and find out what volunteering can do for you, as well as for others ...
There are various capacities in which you can volunteer for us:-
- Home-visiting
- Helping to raise extra funds
- Helping in the office
- Joining our Management Committee.
"Working for Home-Start has changed my life, it made me change my career, take stock of my own life and given me loads of new confidence I thought I didn't have. A big thank you for all the staff and their support."
Quote from one Home-Start Staffordshire Moorlands volunteer
Home-visiting:-
The only real 'qualification' of becoming a home-visiting volunteer is the experience of bringing up children. Friendliness and a caring attitude are essential, as well as an understanding of the pressures of parenting. We value people who don't judge others;
people who will respect the fact that they have been invited into a family's home;
people who will treat a mother or father as an equal.
Before visiting a family, all volunteers attend a short, informal course of preparation. The course normally runs on one day a week for 6-8 weeks. As far as possible, this is timed to suit those people interested in joining the scheme. The preparation course is accredited by the Open College Network, so volunteers can gain credits on completion of the prep course (although there is no pressure or requirement to do this). Topics covered on the preparation course include commitment and boundaries, confidentiality, child protection, listening skills and disability, depression and mental health. All expenses are paid and help with child care costs to allow volunteers to attend the prep course can often be arranged. Click here to see how a typical prep course may run.
Whilst on the prep course, records checks are undertaken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), and references are sought.
Following completion of the prep course, most volunteers visit a family in their own home once a week for a couple of hours. How volunteers help is really down to the family itself. Some might need someone to talk to, others might need more practical support. So you need to be able to commit around 3 hrs a week to Home-Start as visiting may involve some travelling time.
If you are interested in becoming a home-visiting volunteer, please contact us and one of our organisers will arrange to come out and visit you at home to explain about Home-Start and to give you the chance to ask any questions you may have.
All expenses are paid and volunteers are supported throughout their training and contact with families.
Helping to raise extra funds:-
We always need people to help out at various events. You can either give your help at a one-off event or offer to help on an on-going basis. Please Contact Us if you would be interested in helping in this way or click here for more information on what the group do ...
Joining the Management Committee:-
The Management Committee is made up of local residents and representatives from voluntary and statutory agencies as well as family and volunteer representatives. The Committee meet approximately every 6 weeks and meetings usually last a couple of hours. If you have some spare time on your hands and think you may be interested in joining the Management Committee, please contact us to find out what it entails and whether we have any current vacancies.
