A group of Home-Start Norwich's parent volunteers who completed their training in November 2011.

Home-Start Norwich needs more volunteers to give support to fellow mums and dads

Emma Knights Sunday, January 29, 2012
8:00 AM

An organisation that gives support to families with young children is appealing for more parents to volunteer to help fellow mums and dads.

Home-Start Norwich, based in St Benedict’s View, Grapes Hill, is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families with at least one child under five.

It has a network of parent volunteers who offer friendship and support to families and help mothers and fathers deal with the challenges of parenthood.

Sharon Hearsum, Home-Start Norwich’s senior coordinator, said there were many reasons families were helped by Home-Start - some were new to the area or felt isolated because they had no other family members nearby, while others may have suffered a bereavement, or have children with additional needs or behaviour problems.

At the moment Home-Start Norwich currently works with 56 families but has only 42 volunteers. “We are always in need of more volunteers,” Mrs Hearsum said.

“Volunteers are paired with a family who they visit once a week for a couple of hours. Lots of the families we support often feel quite isolated, and the parent volunteer can often help by just chatting to them, going for a walk with them, or going on a trip to the park.”

She said the role of Home-Start Norwich was becoming increasingly vital in the current climate as other services and resources are cut.

Volunteers need to be parents themselves and usually be able to give a year’s commitment, but other than that there are no other prerequisites.

“The volunteers need to have their own children so they can relate to what a tough job it is to raise children – unless you are a parent yourself it can be difficult to understand,” Mrs Hearsum said.

People who apply to be a parent volunteer have a short informal interview, and new volunteers take part in a weekly training session that runs over 11 weeks.

The next course starts on February 21 at the Home-Start Norwich office and is from 10am until 1pm every Tuesday.

Home-Start Norwich is also in need of people to join its board of trustees.

Anybody interested in applying to be a parent volunteer or a trustee of Home-Start Norwich should call 01603 616400 or email admin@homestartnorwich.org

For more about Home-Start visit www.home-start.org.uk

Are you involved in a new community project? Call reporter Emma Knights on 01603 772428 or email emma.knights@archant.co.uk

5 comments

Sorry to hear of your experience. At Home-Start Norwich we make every effort to ensure our volunteers are afforded equal opportunities within our organisation. Every volunteer is closely matched with the needs of the family requiring support. We currently have several disabled volunteers working with us.

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Home-Start Norwich

Wednesday, February 1, 2012
they would get more volunteers if they weren't against disabled people! i started doing a course with them a few years back and i was asked how i would be able to get onto the floor to play with the children as i have problems with my hips, back and knees. i left just after that! i now have a 1 year old son who is happy to play with mummy sitting on the sofa or playing in his highchair so we r the same level!

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local lass

Monday, January 30, 2012
Keith, I disagree. Good role models are vital, and this starts from an earlier age than school. Your own parents should have the most important influence. If your own parents have shown you love, support, how to cook, moral values and so on, then you are much more likely to replicate this once you have your own children. Schools do have responsibilities but so do parents! I think Homestart does a brilliant job at supporting parents who have not had positive role models and feel lost. Well done.

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MAZMINGUS

Sunday, January 29, 2012
A great idea yes but it is at school where education on having children and taking on the responsibilities of raising them should start. I found it absolutely horrendous to read of a young child that had eaten only chicken nuggets since the age of three.

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keith gerrard

Sunday, January 29, 2012
If I was local to Norwich would definately volunteer, a great idea which I wished had been around when my son was small. A great job done by you all, good luck with finding new help.

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Queenie

Sunday, January 29, 2012