home start-family help

[marine241]

any family out there who are not coping and need any help with their family needs should get in touch with their local home start ,it is a free service and can be a very valuable service to anyone who just need help and guidance to cope with family life,
ideal for someone who may be on their own ,the service is run by trained volunteers and all are CRB checked before they are accepted as a volunteer.

[marine241]

www.home-start.org.uk/ - forgot to add volunteers are always welcome as well.

[BumptiousandBustly]

I would say that I was referred to home start - and I have just been introduced to a volunteer after 5 months! She seems lovely but help was really needed and it has been so hard waiting all this time!

[marine241]

i am glad you got your help eventually .i am going to volunteer after xsmas my friend did the course and gave me the incentive to help others,i hope you are coping better now.(smile)

[AspieGirl]

My volunteer was horrible. I used to feel sick with dread before she came and was in tears after she left. Hope you have better luck with yours.

[mugggletoeandwine]

There's none anywhere near me.

I have tried several times this year to get support for my family, and nowhere will help.

That's small town living for you

[marine241]

hi,i am so sorry about that,can you not try to start some sort of help group in your area,i am sure there are plenty of older people like me who have time to spare who would gladly help.
i often thought that there should be help in every town even if it is just somewhere to go for a few hours ,
obviously if a group could be started it would have to have a registrar of c/r/b checked volunteers.:).

[marine241]

aspiegirl,
your experiance sounded dreadful.if you weren't getting the right help you should have complained ,they are there to help not to make you unhappy.

[Oblomov]

Is this some sort of an advert ? a joke ?
HOmestart by us are seb=verly under-funded. severly understaffed. I was DESPERATE. phoned twice. had no -pne available. not even to coem out to me. not even for a chat. USELKESS. is not their fsault. Is just the way it is.

So why the OP ?

[curlymama]

Op is obviously feeling very positive about becoming a volunteer and hopefully making a difference out there.

Let's not crush her spirit just yet!

[sb6699]

muggletoe - where are you?

Although you wont get trained help like homestart, if you shout out on your MN Local I'm sure there are loads of folk who could offer a listening ear and a bit of help with the dc's if you're struggling.

[Beaches]

I was ref to home start, suffering with ptsd following dd2 birth as well as crippling panic attacks, eventually got a volenteer but she just sat there watching me struggle while she drank tea! I was crying out for help and willing to try anything but I am sorry to say they are not really trained prop or maybe matching the volenter to the person is not working I dont know, I just hope those that need the help and are brave enough to ask for it have a better time of it then I did! :)

[sheepgomeep]

I've been with homestart for 8 years now as a family. My local homestart run a creche twice a week and I have had two volunteers in the past.

Whilst i can honestly say that if it wasn't for them I would have probably took my own life by now, they do have problems with volunteers, funding etc

My homestart is very underfunded, there is a huge waiting list and it's VERY hard to get into now and I believe many homestart centres across the country are suffering the same problems.

I too have had a bad experience with my last volunteer. she would never turn up when she was supposed too, she was rude, interfering, at times judgemental (including telling me that i had too many children and that I was lazy) she also walked in my house without permission and would open private mail.
She basically didn't have a clue and we couldn't relate to each other AT All.

I get the impression that they are so desperate for volunteers that they will take almost anyone. As long as they pass the crb check then in homestarts eyes its ok. I know many people in the creche who are ne not happy with thier volunteer either,

Its such a shame it really is

[jugglingjo]

When my two were little I tried talking to someone I met, who was a volunteer with this, about the possibility of someone visiting us.

I soon found myself being asked if I'd be able to volunteer !

I think there's a pretty bad supply and demand problem, which is a shame, as I'm sure many people would like to help a young family just starting out.

It could be a real win-win situation. Good for volunteer and young/ new(ish) family.

If someone had been able to help when I felt the need of it, I might well have felt ready to offer help to others later on.

I was able to find support through toddler groups, the local NCT group, and we even had a couple of great students from the local collage for a while.

But this type of support would have been a real help.

[UnrequitedSkink]

I'd be interested in being a volunteer, what sort of support are volunteers supposed to offer, and what kind of training do they get?

[Beaches]

I agree it is awfully sad, I was left in dire need feeling I could not approach them again in case the volenteer got angry with me for doing so, imo there should of been some follow up, from either them or my health visitor but it all boils down to money.:(

[marine241]

unfortunately things do boil down to money and funding,and finding the right people to help out.

this is not a advert one of the reasons i started this thread is not a lot of people know about help available.
there may be other help or mother/toddler groups in your area

the last volunteer who sheepgomep had assigned to her sounds dreadful,i certainly wouldn't liked to have been treated like that.

my freind who did the training had to take a nvq course.

lets hope those who need the support can get it at least you can ask others on here.:).

[NinkyNonker]

I'd do it, and prob will when DD is a bit bigger.