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.

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Be a Home-Start volunteer

No special qualifications are necessary to become a Home-Start volunteer, but volunteers are usually parents or grandparents with an interest in, and experience of, young children and family life. We welcome volunteers from all sections of the community.

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 to three 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 you keen to help parents and children in your community? Please download an application form to start your journey transforming lives in your area.

Volunteer stories

Training to be a Home-Start Corby volunteer

We are always looking to recruit new volunteers, if you are a parent – mum’s and dad’s, a retired grandparent – or have extensive parenting experience and have 2 hours to spare each week we would love to hear from you. We welcome people from all backgrounds as we work with a diverse range of families residing across the Borough of Corby.

As a Home-Start volunteer you will visit children and their families in their own homes for up to 2 hours per week offering befriending, listening and practical support and sign posting to community services available to them. This is a very rewarding role which really can make a difference to a family when they are finding the early years of parenting challenging. If you feel you have good practical skills and are a very good listener then we would be very interested to hear from you.

In return for your commitment we will offer a comprehensive Preparation Course introducing you to the role, reimburse all out of pocket expenses and also cover any travel costs to enable you to visit your families using Home-Start as a base. The preparation course is very informal and gives volunteers the opportunity to find out more about the project and what their role will be. The coordinators run the course and invite outside speakers such as Family Support workers, Health Visitors and Social Workers in to discuss their role.

Volunteer testimonials

Volunteer

Visits to my supported family were without a doubt one of the high spots of my week. We shared fun afternoons together, watching a young baby grow and thrive and mum gaining confidence. We would go for walks together; I met her at hospital to help with medical appointments: we did some de-cluttering but often we would just sit with a cup of tea and talk.

Mary, Volunteer

Volunteer

Home-Start Corby has also helped me, and I would like to thank the team for all their support. Volunteering gives me a chance for a purpose in life, to chat to people, and I love it when the children give me a hug, and we play games together.  I have missed the family events and get togethers owing to the lockdown, but hopefully it will get better.

Beth, Volunteer

Other ways to volunteer for Home-Start

 

Share your time and skills to help our work

We are always delighted to hear from people who can help us with:

  • fundraising
  • administration
  • helpline
  • translating
  • fundraising
  • cooking alongside families
  • gardening
  • decorating
  • offering to share any particular skills they have that can make a difference to families

If you have a few spare hours a week and want to make a difference to children’s lives in Corby, please get in touch. 

Are you business who would love to offer their time and services to families in Corby? Ie, a ‘man with a van’ to help families to collect items or support with house moves or an entertainment business, who could support us on our fun days.

“I like supporting Home-Start Corby where I can with my business, as when I was younger and needed help, there was nowhere to go, and I feel that I am now in a position to help make life easier for families that need it by providing second hand, affordable furniture, or reduced priced help with moving house” Matt, Furniture for U

 

Join us as a Trustee to help shape the future of our work with families

Our Trustees provide essential leadership, guidance and governance from their own professional or lived experiences. They also play an important role as ambassadors for our work and can offer particular skills to the organisation (like human resources, information management or finance, for example). We welcome interest from those who can be passionate about our work with parents, children, families and the community.

Importantly, the Board of Trustees should reflect the communities in which we work. We already benefit from a variety of skills, experiences and backgrounds and now need to add to that dynamic and creative team.

The minimum commitment as a Trustee is for 8 – 10 hours each month, to attend meetings or to engage in Board discussions via email and online forums. Further opportunities to get involved are possible too, so we can be flexible to suit individual motivations to volunteer.

Become a Home-Start Volunteer Today

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.

 

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