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