Volunteer for Home-Start
By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.
Be a Home-Start volunteer
No special qualifications are necessary to become a Home-
Talking and listening can empower families to overcome their difficult situations. Volunteers are offered on-going training and support activities including specialist speakers and visits to family support services, as well as informal social gatherings.
What it takes to be a Home-Start Volunteer
- You must be a parent or have parenting experience.
- As a Home-Start volunteer you will support a family by visiting them at home for around two hours once a week.
- You should be able to commit at least one year of your time to Home-Start.
- You should have a non-judgmental attitude and understand about the pressures of bringing up a family.
- You will have to attend our free Volunteer Preparation Course with other new volunteers before meeting your first family.
- When visiting a family travel expenses are paid.
- You must understand that your support for families is completely confidential.
- You will have to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service check at enhanced level.
- You will meet regularly with, and be supported by, one of our co-ordinators during the time you are visiting families.
Do you have what it takes to be a Home-Start volunteer? Are keen to help parents and children in your community? Please email us at info@homestartpk.org.uk to start your journey transforming lives in your area.
Training to be a Home-Start Volunteer
If you are looking for a new challenge and looking to make a difference in your local community, why not try volunteering for us here at Home Start Perth and Kinross. Our volunteer training courses run throughout the year and we provide 6 in depth sessions covering a range of topics, all of which are invaluable to becoming a Home Start Volunteer. If you are interested in joining us then please email us at info@homestartpk.org.uk for more information.
Volunteer testimonials
I love volunteering for Home-Start because it gives me a purpose while my daughter is at nursery in the afternoons. Because it’s only a commitment of two hours a week it slots in well to my free time I have available. I really enjoy working 1:1 with families because you get to know them very well and you get to see them progressing and the difference you’re making. Home-Start provides access to a lot of very varied training courses which is good for the CV; you definitely feel you’re getting a lot in return for volunteering with them. Socially it’s been brilliant, too. I’ve made some good like-minded friends and there are lots of social events. You feel really valued.
If I can help to make my family’s day a little bit easier in some way then I feel I have made a difference.
I enjoy volunteering because I feel a sense of achievement, enjoy the variety, enjoy meeting the families and in a small way I am making a difference. It is just an enjoyable way to spend a few hours each week.
I as a volunteer with Home-Start, have found it very rewarding to be able to help families that find that they are in need of some help. I also feel its a privilege to be welcomed into their homes and lives and to help in any way that I can. Sometimes it’s just to be a listening ear or to watch the child/children to give ‘mum’ a wee break.
I look forward to the weekly meetings with my families and to further courses that Homestart provide for volunteers.
I have been volunteering with Homestart for over 2 years now and I love it. Through the different courses I have been offered, I have learned new skills that have helped me at home (as a parent) and in my main job. I have met so many great people and it is just so rewarding to be able to make such a huge difference to families at a time when they need it most. Through working with families I have learned so much about myself and have even enjoyed learning practical things like cooking tips from them! It just feels so good to be able to give something back.
“I found out about Homestart at a local fete, I was interested in the volunteering side as I was an unemployed single parent and wanted to do something positive. Took me six months to phone them. I often help my neighbours, friends and it’s something I like about myself. Homestart allowed me to do that in an official capacity, also gaining skills and experience that benefit me and the families I work with.
Covid has been especially difficult to carry on the same level of support we offered prior, a phone call isn’t the same as a chat over a cuppa or a little time for the parent on there own. We have to stay positive, see the light at the end of the tunnel”
Other ways to volunteer for Home-Start
Could you help plan and oversee how each Home-Start will support families in your community? Being a Trustee is all about the governance of the charity.
Trustees serve on the governing body (board) of a charity and are responsible for directing the management and administration of it.
You would have a wide range of duties and be responsible for making the charity effective, providing overall direction and maintaining sound management of funds. We have more than 2,300 trustees who volunteer their time and skills. Could you provide:
- general business management?
- financial and legal expertise?
- IT knowledge?
- human resources experience?
- PR & media skills?
- knowledge of family support issues in the community?
Then we’d love to hear from you.
You would carry out out a wide range of duties and be responsible for making the charity effective, providing overall direction and the sound management of funds. You would commit to a minimum of 8 – 10 hours a month. Please call Jill on 01738 638847 or email info@homestartpk.org.uk for more information
Find out more about Volunteering with us
Home-Start’s team of trained volunteers make sure a child’s early years count. By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.