Welcome to Our New Charity Partner Home Start Nottingham

Guruumee is very pleased to welcome its newest charity partner Home Start Nottingham.

Home Start began in Leicester and has supported parents with young children (under 5) across the country for over 40 years. It has grown to more than 200 independent schemes across the UK. The organisation offers support to families experiencing difficulties, whatever their situation or circumstances. Home Start Nottingham was set up in 1978 in the city.

‘Parenting is a challenging job, but you don’t get much training’ says Sue Fenton, Manager at Home Start Nottingham. ‘That’s where our services come in, providing men and women with the help they need to become confident, capable parents’.

The main aim is to help families become more independent, so they will be more able to manage their situation and become integrated into community networks where they can find support. The parents are the ones receiving support but the true aim is to prevent the possibility of a young child facing difficulties very early on – as well as the domino effect on later life.

It isn’t difficult to imagine the encouragement and increased confidence that parents feel – however, because they are preventative measures, these benefits are also very difficult to directly quantify. Hence, Home Start Nottingham has experienced funding cuts over the last few years:

‘It becomes very difficult to argue the case against more immediate causes,’ says Sue, ‘and the council are forced to make cuts somewhere.’

Over the years, a lack of funding has meant the organisation can now directly support only 20 families per year – whereas before, it provided assistance to 60 or more.

Home Start Nottingham has been finding ways to adapt, for example, the organisation now runs a weekly family group in Arnold, providing support to families who do not yet have their own assigned volunteers. In the coming year they will be launching a pilot program that offers telephone support to parents. Home Start Nottingham is also working on a school ready program for children.

Currently, one of the priorities for Home Start Nottingham is to recruit more volunteers throughout 2017. Volunteers must be a parent themselves and will undertake a short training course that helps them understand families’ needs, and encourages them to share their own parenting experiences, and communicate without judgment.

We are proud to champion this worthy cause in any small way and hope to continue to support and continue to build our relationship with Home Start Nottingham in the future.

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