Home-Start Southwark is a Home-Start scheme working in the London Borough of Southwark. We provide high quality support for babies and children under the age of 5 in the most deprived areas of Southwark. We are a registered children’s charity with our own management committee and work within the guidelines set out by Home-Start UK.
Most parents would agree that being a parent, wherever you live, whatever your circumstances, isn’t always easy. Combine that with additional pressures such as illness or financial worries, and without the support of family and friends, the pressures can seem overwhelming.
Our approach is simple, but it works! We provide trained volunteers with parenting experience to help any parent, with at least one child under five, who is finding it hard to cope. Since 1995, Home-Start Southwark has supported 2,707 families and 7,526 children, and recruited and trained 644 local volunteers.
One of our greatest strengths is our reputation in the borough which enables us to successfully work in partnership with local Children’s Centres, health professionals, and voluntary and statutory agencies to support families that are hard to engage but have been identified as in need of targeted support.
Home-Start Southwark’s core work is early intervention with families. The earliest years make the biggest impact and we help to make sure those years count. Our Family Support Co-ordinators or trained volunteers visit the family once a week (2-3hours), offering practical and emotional support.
We also run parenting programmes, a twin and multiple birth group, school readiness programme (Big Hopes Big Future), financial guidance programme (Made of Money), as well as organising annual outings for the families we support.