Home-Start Leeds
Key Facts
Location
Project Criteria
Project funding
£35,436
Funding round
Home-Start Leeds offers support and friendship to parents, with at least one child under five, supporting them in their parenting, helping them give their children a good start in life.
Volunteers, who are usually parents themselves, offer the support. They visit families in their own homes regularly.
The volunteers support and encourage parents during difficult periods, helping them grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children, widen links with the local community and access services and resources effectively. We were established in 1987.
The Parenting Fund grant will fund the appointment of an additional part time co-ordinator post to extend and develop our service to meet an increasing demand from families of Black and Minority Ethnic origin including Refugees and Asylum seekers. The additional resources will enable us to offer support to many of the families currently on our waiting list. The co-ordinator appointed would be responsible for consulting with families to look at how we might need to develop our service to more effectively meet the needs of families of Black and Ethnic Minority origin.
Families in need of support are often struggling with parenting in an unfamiliar environment, experiencing isolation and may have specific language and cultural support needs.
Home-Start Leeds recognises that to support families effectively they need to significantly increase the recruitment of volunteers from the Black and Ethnic Minority communities who have the skills, knowledge and experience that is relevant to the families' needs and experiences. The funding will provide resources for recruiting additional volunteers.
The project will also provide training for a number of 'experienced' volunteers in interpreting skills to provide additional support for other co-ordinators undertaking initial assessment visits with families.
The grant will enable Home-Start Leeds to reach an additional twenty families per year and reduce the current waiting list.