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
Our Volunteers give their time to help and support families that are finding life tough. Volunteers visit families in their own homes each week, offering support, friendship and practical help.
Why volunteer?
- To make a difference to parents and children facing difficulties
- To give something back to your local community
- For some it is an opportunity to return the support you once received from Home-Start
- To share a similar experience
What is expected of volunteers?
Preparation Course (Training Course) – this is delivered regularly throughout the year for new volunteers.
All volunteers undertake our preparation course to prepare and train them for the role of volunteer.
The course is interesting and lots of fun, with no written work or tests. Life experiences, being a good listener, common sense and a good sense of humour are more important that paper qualifications.
There is lots of support, understanding, encouragement and laughter throughout training and volunteering.
Commitment to Home-Start
Volunteers need to be able to commit their time:
- To attend the preparation course
- To visit a family once a week
- To attend ongoing training sessions on lots of interesting topics
- To attend monthly support/supervision sessions.
Travel expenses for the course and for visiting Home-Start families are covered.
In order to ensure that our work meets safeguarding requirements you will need to have DBS check, but the cost of this is met by Home-Start.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a volunteer, please do get in touch. We have lots of fun and would welcome you into our happy team!
We always welcome enquiries and make time for a cuppa and a chat to answer any questions you may have about becoming a Home-Start volunteer.
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.
Training to be a Home-Start Goole and District volunteer
Our volunteers undergo a full training and assessment programme before being matched with a family or with one of our groups.Â
Volunteers will learn about health and wellbeing, child development, safeguarding, community projects and a number of key areas of our specific services.
A programme of support and supervision, as well as ongoing developmental training, is in place throughout the year.
Volunteer testimonials
It is nice to build a rapport with families and see families progress and blossom through building trust and working together.
I used to get a Home-Start volunteer so I know what it is like to get help when you need it. As a volunteer I like that I can help other families because I’ve been there.
I love being a Home-Start volunteer, I enjoy getting to know a family and then seeing them grow in confidence and feeling I was able to contribute to that; I get just as much out of it for myself!
It’s great to feel that you have helped a family through difficult times.
Other ways to volunteer for Home-Start
Share your time and skills to help our work
If being a Home Visiting Volunteer isn’t for you, you may be able to help us in other ways. Many people have volunteered their time and skills for:
- supporting family groups & outings
- administration work
- music, craft and storytelling
- healthy eating sessions
- fundraising
- digital promotion
- and so much more
You may also be able to help in ways we haven’t thought about yet.
So if you want to get involved, get in touch and let us know what you have in mind.
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.