Being a parent can be tough.  Many parents say that they sometimes long for someone who understands the pressures, to talk to, to confide in or just to share a coffee and a chat with.  Home-Start provides just this kind of support to local families with at least one child under 5 years of age.  Their volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to young families, helping to prevent family crisis and breakdown. 

Families are visited regularly in their own homes by volunteers who have all been parents themselves and know how difficult life can sometimes be.  The help and support they receive makes an enormous contribution, ‘Knowing that I had a volunteer visiting me twice a week helped to take the pressure off.  I soon realised that here was a person that wasn’t going to judge or criticise me, but someone who would say, “It’s okay to have a bad day and nobody is super mum’.

If you are a parent or a grandparent and can spare two hours a week you could make a real difference to a family in your local area.  Home-Start carefully matches volunteers with families in order to ensure that they provide the best support possible.  As a Home-Start volunteer you will receive a warm welcome, full training and ongoing support, with the opportunity to gain personal satisfaction, confidence and self esteem through your relationship with a local family.

The volunteer training is informal, relaxed and fun. Topics covered include Child Protection, Dealing with Depression, Communication Skills, Confidentiality, Role of the Health Visitor and Child Development.  The course is accredited by the Open College Network, so on completion of the training you will receive a nationally-recognised qualification.

The next Volunteer Preparation Course is on Tuesday 21 March at Houghton Regis Community Resource Centre.  The course is from 10am-2.30pm, and runs for 9 weeks, with breaks for school holidays.  If you would like to register for the course or would like further information on this or any of the other volunteering opportunities available in South Bedfordshire, you can contact Georgina Sorrell, Volunteering Adviser at the Volunteer Centre on 01525 850559 or email volunteer@action-southbeds.org.uk

About Voluntary and Community Action
Voluntary and Community Action is committed to strengthening the effectiveness of the voluntary and community sector in South Bedfordshire by developing, enabling, promoting and supporting voluntary and community action. It seeks to achieve this through advocacy; capacity building activities; enhancing the provision of volunteering opportunities; the exchange of information; the provision of training; advice and consultancy; and by working in partnership with others.

Contact -          Georgina Sorrell, Volunteering Adviser
                        01525 850559
                        georgina@action-southbeds.org.uk