How to get help from
Home-Start Arun, Worthing & Adur
All parents struggle at one time or another. For some, the challenges can be greater. You are not alone.
Support from Home-Start
All parents struggle at one time or another.
You are not alone.
Being a parent is not easy. Sometimes it can feel lonely, frustrating, or overwhelming. But with support, things can get easier, making a family’s day-to-day life and their children’s futures so much brighter.
We’re here to offer that support through a range of support. Our services are free, confidential, and open to families with at least one child under five.
- Home Visiting – trained volunteers visit families weekly, offering support in a range of ways. It could be helping families get out to the park or shop, to cope with the arrival of twins – or simply being there to listen. Our volunteers offer no judgement, just compassion and kindness.
- Groups – join our team of staff and volunteers for two hours of fun activities to support parenting. You will meet other parents in similar situations, have fun with your child and others.
- Phone Support – some parents find support over the phone or via Zoom suits their lifestyle better.
- Buggy Walks – meet with a volunteer to chat outdoors, visit the seaside, a park or stop off for a coffee.
- One-off support calls – if you are feeling overwhelmed and just need to let off steam or to talk about a specific worry, call our office on 01903 953799 and one of the team will call you back. No long referral form just a listening ear when you need it.
How to get help from Home-Start
Home-Start support is free and entirely voluntary. Families contact us directly for help and we also receive introductions from third parties. These mainly come from Health Visitors, Children’s Centres and other professionals in the early years, health and social care sectors.
If you, or someone you know, lives in the Arun, Worthing or Adur areas, has at least one child under five and is going through a challenging time – please get in touch.
We know it can be a big step asking for help, but we don’t judge, we listen and will be with you every step of the way!
How to get help for me
Parenting is tough. But asking for help can be harder. To make asking for help that bit easier, simply contact us by email or call us on 01903 953799
Alternatively,
- Message us on Facebook or Contact us
- Talk to your Health Visitor, Midwife or GP for more information
- Ask a friend or family member to contact us for more information
After you’ve contacted us, one of our friendly team will get in touch to talk about how we can help. If you decide you’d like our support, we’ll then arrange an initial visit with you. Following that, we’ll match you with one of our volunteers.
Will anyone else find out?
Our support is confidential. Personal information about you and your family is not disclosed to anyone outside Home-Start Arun, Worthing & Adur without your consent, except where there are safeguarding concerns about a child or adult.
How to get help for someone else
Introductions to Home-Start Arun, Worthing & Adur are mainly received from Health Visitors, Children’s Centres and other professionals in the early years, health and social care sectors. This is not an exclusive list and we welcome introductions from any professionals working with young families.
Since Home-Start is a voluntary organisation, we can offer a flexible approach to individual families. We’re not a substitute for professional services but complementary to them, and our best results are achieved through close partnership working.
If you’d like to ask us about our service, email admin@home-startawa.org.uk.
How to introduce a family to Home-Start
To introduce a family who you think may benefit from our support, we suggest you:
- Talk to the family about our service and suggest how we might be able to help
- Ask the family’s permission to contact us on their behalf
- Complete a Referral Form and send it to: admin@home-startawa.org.uk.
Once we’ve received your referral, we’ll arrange for a Family Support Organiser to contact the family and arrange an initial visit. Following this, a volunteer will be matched with the family. We’ll let you know when this happens.
If a family would prefer to contact us themselves, please ask them to contact us or call us on 01903 953799 . Alternatively, families can , call or message us online or via Facebook.
Home-Start Arun, Worthing & Adur groups
Our groups provide a space for parents to gather, meet and talk, and create their own local support network.
We support parents and pre-school children, and have opened up groups for those with babies and toddlers born during lockdown.
Families who do not wish the support of a home visiting volunteer might come to one of our groups instead. After a while there, building their trust in the way we work, they often feel able to ask for more personal support at home.
Very isolated parents who don’t have the confidence to meet others, may well take the first steps to building links into their own communities after our home visiting volunteers take them to a Home-Start group.
Testimonials
I found Home-Start suggestions very useful – especially in relation to my two youngest who are both boys (ages nearly 2 and 3). Yesterday we did interesting creative things together and then I approached them separately for more age-related play. Not only did this hold their concentration better but they didn’t race around in a frenzy as they usually do!
She will never know how important her emotional and practical support was during this time…Home-Start supported me the whole way.
Having phone support has been a lifeline to me. I had been drowning in debt but my volunteer helped me find the right people to help and stayed with me until I felt able to cope.
I have felt quite desperate at times, but knowing I had someone to talk to, gave me reassurance and helped me to manage the feelings of anxiety I have been experiencing.
I would like to say thank you for saving my life and for ensuring that my daughter can grow up to be the wonderful, happy and beautiful person I know she is.
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.