Home-Start Southwark (HS-S) is part of a nationwide network of local schemes committed to improving the welfare of families with at least one child under the age of 5. Our mission is to provide practical and emotional support to struggling parents enabling them to create happier lives for their babies & children and to provide learning and vocational opportunities for the volunteers that support them.Volunteers are
recruited from the local area and trained to offer support, friendship and practical help to families under stress, helping to prevent family crisis and breakdown and also to help parents to understand and support the developmental needs of their children. The service is offered in the families’ home where the dignity and identity of each individual can be respected and protected.
Our overall objective is to improve the prospects of disadvantaged children and families in Southwark through our targeted early intervention programme. Giving parents the support and guidance needed in the first three years of a child’s life helps lay a vital, social and emotional foundation for the child, building happier, healthier lives and helping them achieve their full potential.
Objective 1 Earliest Intervention: Reduce the need for statutory intervention for children through Increasing parents’ skills in raising their children to have the best possible start during pregnancy and beyond to be more resilient in later lives.
Objective 2 Community Impact: Greater social and economic well-being for people in Southwark by recruiting, training, retaining and supporting volunteers to develop personally and vocationally through supporting families in their home and neighbourhoods.
Objective 3: Sustainability: Sustain an effective home-based family service in Southwark through increasing the ability of Home-Start Southwark to continue to provide a flexible home-based family support service.
1 Volunteers provide support to families expecting a child through home visits, accompanying to health related appointments and preparing the home environment, in conjunction with statutory health providers.
HS-S staff facilitate at least 2 Mellow Parenting sessions in each year to support families with complex needs to develop positive parenting skills.
Volunteers provide support and professional friendship in the home to help reduce isolation of families and encourage them to access outside activities and services. Volunteers work with families to address their personal issues that can have a negative effect on their children’s development through accessing outside support such as mental health, substance misuse and domestic violence agencies.
2 HS-S facilitates 4 Volunteer Preparation Workshops per year
HS-S develops and implements volunteering opportunities such as ongoing training and providing a range of volunteering experiences to retain and grow its volunteers.
3 HS-S participates in early help and family support fora; works in partnership with Southwark Children’s Centres Programme; provides family support with partner agencies such as Family Action Newpin and H-S London Consortium.
HS-S continuously promotes its benefits to potential families, volunteers, trustees and potential funders through marketing, publicity and promotion of the benefits to families, using multi-media and public speaking opportunities.
