News release
Issued: July 2014
Home-Start calls for children to be prioritised
Home-Start Sheffield is joining the Home-Start network in calling for all
political parties to put children’s lives at the heart of policy, through the
launch if it’s All Our Children manifesto.
Launched at a Westminster reception hosted by the charity’s ambassador
Alastair Stewart OBE, All Our Children has been shaped by the views of
Home-Start’s supported families, staff and volunteers.
Home-Start Sheffield works with vulnerable parents and children who are
socially excluded, living in isolation or facing multiple problems. These can
include changes in circumstances, unreliable employment and gaps in
benefit payments, poor physical and mental health and housing problems.
These can all push families into crisis and when this happens, children
suffer.
We want all our children to grow up with:
 Safe places to live and play
 Support when their parents suffer from a mental illness
 Protection from hunger and poor nutrition
Jack Scott, Manager of Home-Start Sheffield, explains:
“These really are basic needs but many children are not getting the support
they deserve. Home-Start’s manifesto shows why this is crucial and how we
can all make it happen. With more than 40 years supporting families, HomeStart knows that small steps are often the most lasting. What we are
proposing will make a real, immediate difference to the lives of children.”
A recent survey of local Home-Starts revealed that more than 70% believed
children in the families they work with are not supported by health and
social services when their parents suffer from mental illness. 76% said they
work with families whose children are not protected from food poverty and
81% support families where the children do not have safe places to live and
play.
The practical solutions offered in this manifesto will enable local people to
support vulnerable families more effectively.”
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Meg Munn MP, Sheffield Heeley, and Patron of Sheffield Home-Start said:
“I’m really pleased to support the All Our Children manifesto. From my work
as a local Sheffield MP, and as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on
Child Protection, I know how important it is to provide safe places to live and
play and support for parents who suffer from a mental illness. I also know
that across Sheffield, many families are struggling financially and have to
rely on food banks to feed their children.
Organisations like Home-Start Sheffield provide vital support to local families
that are struggling and so I’m pleased to see this manifesto launched. All our
children need the right support.”
ENDS
Note to Editors:
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Manifesto available on the Home-Start website at www.homestart.org.uk/HSmanifesto
Please use #allourchildren in social media mentions and @homestartuk
on Facebook / Twitter
View Storystream of support www.home-start.org.uk/allourchildren
Interviews are available with spokespeople, please contact to arrange.
For more information please contact: Jack Scott
[email protected] / 07875 014281
Home-Start currently has 16,000 home-visiting volunteers around the country who
give just a couple of hours per week to support parents going through difficult times.
In Sheffield, Home-Start works with around 100 volunteers. But with the need for
Home-Start as great as it has ever been, we need many more.
If a home-visiting role isn’t for you, Sheffield Home-Start has other things that people
can support them on, such as marketing and public relations, IT, events and
fundraising.
PHOTOGRAPHS
From our photo library are attached, different examples can be provided.
Home-Start background and services
Home-Start runs more services and has more volunteers supporting more families
than any other family support charity in the UK.
Its 325 UK schemes are supported by 15,000 Home-Start volunteers visiting families
at home each week.
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Volunteers provide non-judgmental practical and emotional support and help build
the family's confidence and ability to cope.
Usually referred by social services, health visitors and support workers, they are
there for parents battling against isolation or bereavement, those juggling the
pressure of a multiple birth, illness or disability as well as those who are simply
finding parenting a struggle.
The Sheffield scheme was set up 30 years ago and has supported 4,161 families in
that time - an average of 250 families a year. It has over 100 volunteers at any one
time.
Home-Start help to increase the confidence and independence of families by:
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Visiting families in their own homes to offer support, friendship and practical
assistance
Reassuring parents that their childcare problems are not unusual or unique
Encouraging parents' strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate
benefit of their children
Trying to get the fun back into family life
Our volunteers, who have parenting experience themselves, can offer:
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Precious time for listening and talking
Help with the children and a break for parents
Practical help and reassurance
A chance to meet other parents in similar situations
Support to use local services and resources
Parents ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:
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They may feel isolated in their community, have no family nearby and be
struggling to make friends
They may be finding it hard to cope because of their own or a child's physical
or mental illness
They may have been hit hard by the death of a loved one
They may be really struggling with the emotional and physical demands of
having twins or triplets - perhaps born into an already large family
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HOME-START STOCK IMAGES
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