About
We provide emotional and practical support to families in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, and the Forest of Dean.
We know that the earliest years of a child's life have a big impact on the rest of their ...
Family Support Volunteer
Scan me or visit www.govolunteerglos.org/o/Home-Start-North-and-West-Gloucestershire/opportunities/Family-Support-Volunteer/53825 to join
Contact person
Summary
Our home-visiting volunteers are carefully matched with a family who they visit on a weekly basis. Full training and ongoing supervision provided.Detailed description
As a volunteer, you will be supporting parents in their homes, giving them the skills they need to nurture their children. Your support will enable parents to grow in confidence and strength. Helping them cope through a challenging time means outcomes for the children in families are significantly improved.
All volunteers receive an induction into the Home-Start family. You will get valuable training on a wide range of topics, including child development, play, safeguarding, confidentiality and what you can expect when visiting a family. You will also be encouraged to bring your own unique skills and experience to the families you support. As well as informative, inductions are designed to be informal and fun, making you quickly feel at home in our team. Following your induction, you will receive as much ongoing training and support as you need.
Once matched with a family, you will visit them in their own home for about two hours a week. Home-Start volunteers support young families with at least one child under the age of five, but each family’s needs are different. Examples include:
- Supporting a parent to go on a trip to the park or the shops if they are unable to do this on their own.
- Playing with a child in the family and helping a parent increase their own confidence in how to play.
- Helping a parent with some practical parenting skills, bathing a baby, for example.
- Simply being a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.
Whatever is needed, you will be able to use your own parenting skills with the extensive knowledge you’ve gained on your induction to improve outcomes for young families going through difficult and dark days. Your Coordinator will be there to help you throughout your volunteering journey.
What we will provide to volunteers
💸 Reimbursement of costs🤝 Extra supportGetting there
About Home-Start North and West Gloucestershire
We know that the earliest years of a child's life have a big impact on the rest of their lives. We offer one-to-one in-home support to parents; they are visited by fully trained and carefully matched volunteers who work alongside them to help raise their self-confidence and their ability to cope in an increasingly pressured society. As well as our home visiting support we provide free antenatal, postnatal, mother's and dad's groups in the community.
Our emphasis is on parents helping parents, so our volunteers are all parents or have parenting experience. They are trained, supported and supervised to Home-Start UK standards.
Our vision is to see families getting the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life. Our aims are to increase the confidence and the independence of families by:
• Offering support, friendship and practical assistance;
• Visiting families in their own homes, where the dignity and identity of each adult and child can be respected and protected;
• Reassuring parents that difficulties in bringing up children are not unusual and encourage them to enjoy family life;
• Developing a relationship with the family in which time can be shared and understanding can be developed: our approach is flexible to take account of different needs;
• Encouraging parents’ strength and emotional well-being and resilience for the ultimate benefit of their children;
• Encouraging families to widen their network of support and to use effectively the services available within the community.