Stories and news from families with Home-Start UK

Domestic abuse will affect one in four women, and one in six men in their lifetime. In our latest podcast, Anna shares her story and explains how Home-Start Greenwich supported her.

Hetal and Will have both been blind since childhood. But they found that it was when they had children that the new challenges of parenthood meant they needed a little extra help. In our latest podcast, Hetal and Will explain how Carol, a volunteer from Home-Start Greenwich has transformed life for them and their children.

In our latest podcast we spoke to volunteers and staff at Home-Star Glasgow North, and in Home-Start MAJIK – which support families in the west of Scotland, one of the most remote communities in the UK. We heard stories about one of the issues families face wherever they live: loneliness and isolation.

Rachel is a mum whose little boy attends Home-Start Wirral’s Little Movers group for children with additional needs. And Debbie is one of the volunteers at the group. Little Movers is just one of the amazing groups run by Home-Start Wirral to meet the needs of their community and Rachel and Debbie talk about the impact it has on them.

Families in Wakefield have been working with volunteer, Jackie, for more than 13 years. We spoke to Jackie about why she volunteers for Home-Start, as well as hearing from staff members and trustees about what the new challenges faced by families and the local Home-Starts they work with.

Naneh and her husband lived an ordinary life until, without warning, their world was turned upside down. Thankfully, Naneh came across Home-Start and was matched with a volunteer called Sue. Together with Sue’s help, Naneh and her husband were able to move forward and were finally able to start rebuilding their lives.

Lois, Sam and Andrea are new volunteers for Home-Start Glasgow North, and they are being set questions by Amanda to find out more about how their training has prepared them to meet their first family.

Magadi was experiencing postnatal depression. After a visit to the GP, she was put in touch with Home-Start Camden who introduced her to Beverly. Together Beverly and Saiqa from Home-Start Camden helped Magadi to gain more confidence and to get better.

Naiomi is in her 20s, Juliette is in her 80s and in this episode of our podcast they share their experiences of volunteering and supporting families in one of the most diverse communities in the UK.

Home-Start are partnering with the LENA Research Foundation to launch a programme around language and early childhood development. In this conversation, Dr Steve Hannon explains why hearing language is so important to children, and how the LENA Research Foundation project helps.