Home Start

Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, heart breaking and overwhelming. Home-Start Epsom, Ewell and Banstead is ready to support families through their toughest times. Their staff and volunteers work with families experiencing difficult challenges including:

• Mental or physical health needs
• Children with additional needs
• Bereavement
• Financial worries

They have a team of trained volunteers who work alongside families to give compassionate and confidential support tailored to each family. Typically they will work with a family for two hours a week to help parents build on their strengths and develop their parenting skills. They particularly concentrate on the early years between birth and school which is vital in a child’s development and can be a daunting experience to first time parents.

Home-Start is supported by local and national grant providers but also relies heavily on local fundraising.This year they are celebrating their 25th anniversary and are encouraging supporters to choose an activity involving 25 to raise vital funds.

There are many ways residents can support our local home Start. If you have an Amazon account, you can sign up to Amazon Smile which donates 0.5% of your purchases to HSEEB.
Click here for more information (https://hseeb.org/amazon-smile/)

They also run a monthly lottery where for a £1 a week contribution you can win one of three cash prizes a month (the amount depends on the number of participants). Again click here for more information (https://hseeb.org/200-club/)

And there is a Just Giving page for one off donations (https://www.justgiving.com/hseeb)

Home-Start is always on the look-out for volunteers. Home-visiting volunteers come from many different backgrounds and vary in age, but all are either parents themselves or have parenting experience and are carefully selected for their friendliness and understanding.

All volunteers attend a course of preparation before being linked with families and then take their own individual skills and experience to the families they visit. Volunteers visit families in the home because a parent has asked for help. They wish to offer their time and friendship and they will accept a parent as they are.

Volunteers are also needed to help with the administration of the charity and especially with fundraising.

If you are interested there is plenty of information on their website here (https://www.hseeb.org/volunteering)

If you feel you are in need of Home-Start’s services then look at the support page on their website (https://hseeb.org/are-you-a-parent-in-need-of-support/). This explains the range of support available and how you can access them.