Our Families
There’s no such thing as a typical Home-Start family
Every family we help has its own individual set of needs and challenges, including:
For examples of the types of family we help see our Home-Start Stories.
I’m a single parent with two children. I’ve suffered with depression on and off over the years and was on prescription medication for an ongoing back pain.
When my youngest child was two years old she was really challenging because she seemed to find it really difficult to express herself and she would get frustrated and upset all the time. She was later diagnosed with autism. At times this could be really overwhelming. I found it hard to just get her out of the house so ended up spending more and more time at home. I felt isolated, lost a lot of confidence, lacked motivation and found it hard to get out of bed in the morning.
My Home-Start volunteer was always there to listen to my problems and offer support. We would sit and have a cup of tea and a chat and then she would play with my daughter so that I could do some housework.
With her help my confidence grew and I was able to get out of the house more, which meant I felt less isolated and more able to cope with the challenges of parenting. My Home-Start volunteer really helped me and it means a lot to me that we are still friends 5 years later.
This family has six children aged 3, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 17. They live in a small house with the four girls (aged 6-14) all sharing one bedroom. Dad has a low paid job so it is hard to make ends meet. During lockdown he has been working from home but because all the children have also been at home, he has found it hard to find a space to work, so has ended up working in the car. Mum has depression and anxiety. She has really struggled with the stress of home-schooling, how to keep the kids entertained and worrying about them going back to school.
Our family support volunteer has kept in regular contact with the mum by phone and text, listening to how she is feeling and making suggestions of fun things to do like making wooden spoon dolls, ball games, feeding the birds and having themed mealtimes. She has also sent her scavenger hunts and links to online story-times and even delivered art and craft materials and activity packs from The Cowshed. During these visits our volunteer has been able to have socially distanced chats with both Mum and Dad about how they are coping and how she can help.
My name is Kerry and my Home-Start story began when I had my twins, I already had a 16 month old little girl and 4 older children. After having the twins I was diagnosed with postnatal depression and felt like I was failing at everything.
My health visitor spoke to me about Home-Start but at first I was too proud to accept help as I had always been a strong woman and dealt with everything myself, eventually I would give it a go. I was introduced to a lovely volunteer who would come once a week to help with my 3 little ones so I could get things done at home, go out to places that I couldn’t have done on my own with 3 little ones or even for just a cup of tea and a good chat.
Myself and my children had developed an unbreakable bond with our volunteer and even after 5 years we still have contact with her. The little ones’ eyes light up when they see her. Home-Start also helped in so many other ways by sign posting me to the right help I needed to help me become myself again. I am forever grateful to Home-Start.
I’m Sally and I’m a disabled parent with two children aged 6 and 3 years old, living in Wokingham. I became disabled in my second pregnancy and became heavily dependent on my parents and husband for support. Having a Home-Start volunteer gave me back some independence, gave me someone to talk to who is separate from the situation, and also gave my parents a break. The kids both love our volunteer and look forward to their visits. Home-Start has helped us get through some difficult years and improve my physical and mental wellbeing.