About us
We are the UK's leading family support charity
Who do we support?
Our volunteers visit families who have at least one child under the age of five and support them in their own home.Families are referred from a variety of sources, such as health visitors, social workers, nursery staff and other voluntary organisations, but anyone can contact us and ask for help for a family (with their permission) or the family can contact us directly, as long as they have at least one child under five.
Home-Start East Fife supports all types of families for many and varied reasons: first time or young mothers, multiple births, lone parents, grandparents, and any other carer, while issues include postnatal depression, isolation, children or parents with special needs, illness, financial difficulties, housing or relationship difficulties - in fact anything which is making life stressful.
How do we support families?
Home-Start offers a flexible approach designed to meet the individual needs of each family. Volunteers complete our Preparation Course and are then carefully matched to a family.They will visit the family for three to four hours once a week offering assistance by listening, offering companionship, helping with appointments, playing with the children, or just byproviding another pair of hands. There is no time limit to our support - other than if the family's youngest child reaches the age of five - and the co-ordinator will keep in touch to review the family's progress on a regular basis.
All information about families supported by Home-Start East Fife is completely confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside Home-Start East Fife, except when there is concern about a child's welfare.
Who are the volunteers?
Home-visiting volunteers are usually parents themselves and understand the stresses and strains of bringing up a young family. All volunteers are thoroughly vetted - all volunteers join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme and we ask for two references. In addition to this individuals attend a course of preparation before being accepted as a home-visiting volunteer (click on the Training link for more information on our Preparation Course).
We also have volunteers who help out at our Family Support Groups or provide office support as well as a Board of Trustees.
Who do we support?
Our volunteers visit families who have at least one child under the age of five and support them in their own home.Families are referred from a variety of sources, such as health visitors, social workers, nursery staff and other voluntary organisations, but anyone can contact us and ask for help for a family (with their permission) or the family can contact us directly, as long as they have at least one child under five.
Home-Start East Fife supports all types of families for many and varied reasons: first time or young mothers, multiple births, lone parents, grandparents, and any other carer, while issues include postnatal depression, isolation, children or parents with special needs, illness, financial difficulties, housing or relationship difficulties - in fact anything which is making life stressful.
How do we support families?
Home-Start offers a flexible approach designed to meet the individual needs of each family. Volunteers complete our Preparation Course and are then carefully matched to a family.They will visit the family for three to four hours once a week offering assistance by listening, offering companionship, helping with appointments, playing with the children, or just byproviding another pair of hands. There is no time limit to our support - other than if the family's youngest child reaches the age of five - and the co-ordinator will keep in touch to review the family's progress on a regular basis.
All information about families supported by Home-Start East Fife is completely confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside Home-Start East Fife, except when there is concern about a child's welfare.
Who are the volunteers?
Home-visiting volunteers are usually parents themselves and understand the stresses and strains of bringing up a young family. All volunteers are thoroughly vetted - all volunteers join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme and we ask for two references. In addition to this individuals attend a course of preparation before being accepted as a home-visiting volunteer (click on the Training link for more information on our Preparation Course). We also have volunteers who help out at our Family Support Groups or provide office support as well as a Board of Trustees
In Summary
Our support is offered by trained and vetted volunteers. Anyone can refer a family - just ask their permission first. The support is tailored to the family's needs and they have choices at every stage.
Please do not hesitate to contact us using the form below if you have any further questions
