Home-Start – family help and support
If you’ve got children under five, and are finding things hard to manage, you could ask Home-Start for help.
Home-Start volunteers can visit you in your own home They are all parents like yourself, and have special training before being matched with a family. Their support is free and confidential.
How they can help
Home-Start can help with a whole variety of problems, and enlist the support of other local services or resources. People contact them because of problems such as:
- loneliness or isolation
- depression and ill health
- lone parenting or bereavement
- multiple births
- relationship problems
- disability, special needs or behaviour problems.
Volunteers can visit once a week, for up to three hours. They can help with the children and offer practical assistance, a chance to talk and perhaps to meet other parents in the same boat.
The volunteers
All volunteers have parenting experience and understand how challenging bringing up small children can sometimes be. They complete a ten-week training course before they start visiting families.
About Home-Start
Home-Start are a registered UK charity, and a partner organisation with East Sussex County Council. They work in over 340 communities across the country. They receive funding from the Council and other organisations.
How to get help
Families are often referred to Home-Start by health visitors or children’s services. However, you can contact them directly for help.
Lewes district
Tel: 01273 612025
Email: homestartsouthdowns@btinternet.com
Hastings and Rother district
Tel: 01424 443636
Email: home-start@hastingsandrother.fsnet.co.uk
You can also visit the Home-Start website to contact your nearest office. Use their postcode search to see which this is.
