volunteering

All Home-Start volunteers are parents or people who have had experience bringing up children. They come from all walks of life and are all ages.

After a careful selection process and a criminal records check, all volunteers attend a training course to fully prepare them for their role with Home-Start.

Home-Start volunteers are not paid to provide support.  Although they receive training, they are not professionals so they will not replace the support provided by a social worker or a health visitor.  Their support is free and confidential.

What does being a volunteer involve?

Home visiting volunteers give friendship as well as emotional and practical help to parents.  Volunteers visit families in their own homes and usually give between two and four hours a week, although this can be flexible.

Where possible, Home-Start tries to match the volunteer’s skills and experiences to the needs of the family they support.  For example, a volunteer who has experienced post-natal depression or has twins would ideally be placed with a family in a similar situation.

Becoming a volunteer

To find out more about becoming a Home-Start volunteer, contact us at the Home-Start Canterbury & Coastal office.

“ I’m a mum with two children.  One of them has various problems so I understand the pressures of family life.  I’ve been lucky - help has always been there.  Now it’s my turn to help - because I can. 

Being a volunteer is something I am proud of.”

A Home-Start Volunteer