home-start volunteers

[atomicdust]

hello,

does anybody have direct experience with either volunteering with Home-Start or havinng receivd help from home-start?

I've just finished the prep course and I do not know exactly what to expect...

if I were a GP, I may very well discuss the symptoms of one of my patients with collegues to get a second opinion....

because anybody can become a homestart volunteer provided that they are a parent themselves (and no bad record on CRB), I can not think of a better place tham MN to discuss the family I'm supporting....

Just more and more surprise that this thread is being highjacked by people with a double agenda who want to keep the grass-root story very silent...

Home-start is publicly funded both from national and local governments, besides getting private grants.

It seems absolutely normal, especially in a climate of budget rationalisation, to openly discuss advantages - or lack of- of a publicly funded charity.

'In actual fact Homestart saves the taxpayer so so soo much more money than it will ever invest. '
Penelope is this you opinion or have you some data to back up this assertion?

Rumpelstiltskin do you work for home-start? do you volunteer for Home-start? were you a family supported by home-start?

do you have anything to add about this thread other than wanting to kill it?

and for very fake reasons because anybody with 2 working brain cells could easily realise the fallacy of this confidentility arguments.

going round in circles

endlessly

there is nothing written on this post that goes against the confidentiality agreement. But you do not know it, so you can not say.

there is something weird about people being affiliated to home-start refusing to discuss any family / volunteer story. I started this post wanting to gather experince - because yes I found most of the case studies in the prep course fairly exagerated - because MN is about sharing experience re parenthood / family life - because I'm naturally becoming more suspicious of this gross exageration of the positiv outcomes versus public cost...

it's public funded, it's everybody's tax, it's open to transparency and scrutiny - or should be

TBH atomic only you know if you can make any difference. I really hope I do but I can't be certain. Nobody can. I have had really good feedback from the families I have helped and that is enough for me.

It is only 2 or 3 hours a week so I really don't give it that much thought TBH.

I find it weird that you want everybody to justify why you should volunteer with Homestart. If you don't like it help some other charity as there are plenty to choose from.

cause Home-start is still using tax-payer's money!

I know it's only a small fish...and lots of "charities" use a mix a public funding / donations.

because during the training, we were vry much told about being some "1st line" for Social Services; that our intervention would stop a situation from escalating with all the trauma, negative impact on children and parents...

because we were told our intervention was about breaking the negative cycle, helping parents being more involved with their kids so that the kids do better and enjoy life better; helping "isolated" or "deprssed" mother make a better use of community resources and lead a more fulfilled life...

and I'm not sure anymore that our positive impact is so great!

as you must know, we signpost to other agencies (sure start, toddler groups, CAB, other specialist agencies, ), so our real-value add is much smaller than some people -especially those working for home-start- said

and we cost a enormous £37M?

maybe i give too much of a toss?

anyway, our AGM is in a couple of weeks, so I'm sure that will be interesting.

I honestly don't care about your beef about their funding. If it gets cut then there isn't much I can do about it.

Why don't you contact Homestart head office to see if they have the information that you require?

well i care because we can have some influence.

i already got some financial infomation about their funding

registered accounts

sorry this one
accounts

I have no influence and I don't want any. I had some spare time and wanted to help newish mothers so Homestart felt like a good fit. How they get funding is up to them.

you have a good heart.

because i'm more cynical than you and as much as i admire the work done by the volunteers, i have a sneaky feelings that some are actually profiteering from your good work...

by grossly exagerating the outcomes

Doesn't Home Start have some sort of personalilty test or assessment to weed out people like atomicdust? I'm quite concerned that she has been assigned to a vunerable woman and her family. Reading her posts in this thread is ringing alarm bells for me and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I wonder why you're volunteering atomic? I don't think for a second you are- otherwise why on another thread would you say you're in favour of those who help themselves, and not those who are needy in over-crowded housing ?

Trying to garner support for the axing of HomeStart funding are we?

KittyMee; there are no personality test to becomea volunteer. In our scheme apparently we loose around 25 volunteers (around 30% of the total number) per year, and most end up just supporting one family anyway before they realise that "homestart is not for them", or that they will "resume paid employment" or have "new family obligations".

It's quite correct that a number of ex-volunteer actually get a job within social care / social services / education (a litle bit like the police recruitment now expecting future potential recruits to have completed some "formative volunteering as a constable")

So obviously those have used their experience with homestart to get a job and will never ever critise the system that pays them!

A lot of volunteers also leave the scheme because they do not agree with the way this charity operate, even if most will keep in touch with their family. They just do not even bother to justify themselves. (maybe they do not want virtual abuse on anonymous forum???)

So homestart constantly train new volunteers...at a gigantic cost to the taxpayer.

CaptainNancy: you are definitely a strong supporter of Big Brother....I'm hardly surprised that you took the time to look at some of my other posts in order to quote out of context.

I'm not in favour of endlessly providing for those more deprived, of catering for every possible need of the less affluent.

It's far better to teach somebody how to fish than to always give them the fish. It's better to empower people, help them being independant than assisted.

In homestart context, we were told during the training that our intervention was to "break the cycles", help the mother with parenthood etc...so maybe befriend, relate, re-assure, share some experience, not go there every week to clean the house, baby-sit while Mum has some "me time"!

Also, still during training, we were told that homestart does not make financial donations to needy families and that if ever we were asked for "a financial loan" from the family, we should personally decide whether we wanted to make a personal gift.

So I was surprised surprised when the now infamous co-ordinator told me of a family "really leaving in over-crowded housing, especially since new boyfriend moved in and DM got pregnant". I'm not sure those issues should be dealt by homestart, that is simply not our remit!