Home-Start
Renfrewshire
Strategic Plan
2015-2020
Home-Start Renfrewshire
70 Back Sneddon Street
Paisley PA3 2BY
T 0141 889 5272 M 07827 678544
E [email protected]
W http://www.home-start-renfrewshire.org.uk
Like us on Facebook : Home-Start Renfrewshire
Follow us on Twitter : @HSRenfrewshire
Scottish Charity Number SC032231
Company No. SC280860, Registered in Scotland.
Home-Start Renfrewshire is a Company Limited by Guarantee
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Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary
2.Home-Start Renfrewshire's Background
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
What is Home-Start
Overview of Home-Start Renfrewshire
Achievements to date
Demographics & Community Profile
Competition
Working in Partnership
External Influences
3. Home-Start Renfrewshire's Identity
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
Core Beliefs of Home-Start Renfrewshire
Mission Statement
Home-Start Renfrewshire's Values
Benchmarks
4. Strategy Process
4.1 Methodology
4.2 Home-Start Renfrewshire's Objectives
5. Finance
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
Financial Projections
Budget
Sources of Funding
Contingency Plan/ Risk Management
Appendix - SWOT Analysis
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1. Executive Summary
The purpose of this Strategic Plan is to clearly set out Home-Start
Renfrewshire’s scheme objectives over a five-year period, giving us aims and
a focus to work towards, along with a working document that we will use to
monitor our progress.
Home-Start Renfrewshire receives approximately 95% of its annual funding
for its service from Renfrewshire Council.
To sustain the service at its current level, with outgoings of approximately
£97,000 average per year, this is the level of funding we need to seek to
ensure continuity of service.
Our priority is to maintain the current level of service provision across the
Renfrewshire area, given current funding and Co-ordinator hours. We intend
to monitor demand for the service, and identify potential sources of funding.
Additionally thanks to 5 year funding from the Big Lottery and in partnership
with Home-Start UK we will develop the new Inverclyde Satellite Project which
is the first of its kind to be set up and we anticipate that this will be the pilot
for future models.
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2. Home-Start Renfrewshire’s Background
2.1 What is Home-Start
Home-Start’s unique service of emotional and practical support and
friendship to families with at least one child under 5, for over 40 years, is
recognised nationally and internationally as an effective means of family
support. To Home-Start every family is special and we respond to each
family’s needs through a combination of home-visiting support, group work
and social events. We do this by recruiting, training and supporting
volunteers, who are usually parents themselves, from our local communities
to visit families with young children to offer emotional and practical support
and friendship in an informal, friendly, non-judgemental and confidential
environment.
Home-Start schemes are rooted in the communities they serve – managed
locally but supported by a UK wide organisation which offers direction,
training, information and guidance to schemes to ensure consistent and
quality support for parents and children wherever they are. There are over
290 schemes across the UK and with British Forces in Germany, Belgium and
Cyprus. There are also Home-Start schemes in 27 other countries which are
part of the Home-Start International network.
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2.2 Overview of Home-Start Renfrewshire
Home-Start Renfrewshire is an independent charitable organisation
(Registered Charity No SCO32231), and a Company Limited by Guarantee (No
SC280860).
We currently have six part-time paid staff, who are employed and managed
by a voluntary Board of Trustees. This is made up of interested people and
representatives from local agencies. The Board employs the staff and are
responsible for the effective management of the scheme, including funding,
insurance, premises, budgeting and good employment practice. The Senior
Co-ordinator is responsible for managing the scheme on a daily basis. The
core service is provided by volunteers, who complete the Home-Start
volunteer training course, receive regular support and supervision from the
scheme coordinators, can access on-going training locally and have
opportunities to attend ongoing peer-to-peer development support sessions.
Home-Start Renfrewshire offers support that is tailored to each family’s
individual needs. This support is regularly monitored and reviewed by the
scheme Co-ordinators, who also undertake regular training and development
in the support and supervision of volunteers.
2.3 Achievements to date
Last year was Home-Start Renfrewshire’s 14th year supporting families across
the 14 towns and villages of Renfrewshire. Since beginning in September
2001 we have supported 422 families through our core home-visiting service
and our family group service.
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2.4 Demographics & Our Community Profile
Renfrewshire covers an area of 101 square miles with a population of
174,908 (Census 2011) – 5.5 % of the population are children are under 5,
12% of the population are aged 5-16. The Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation (SIMD) ranks data zones according to areas of deprivation. The
Renfrewshire area has 48 data zones that fall into the most deprived 15% in
Scotland.
One in five of Scotland’s children are officially recognised as living in
poverty. Poverty remains one of the most serious problems facing children
today. The effects last a lifetime, negatively impacting on health, education,
social and physical development and seriously harming future life chances
and opportunities (CPAG in Scotland)
Family support is generally focused in the pockets of deprivation, leaving
many areas without family support services which is the area Home-Start
Renfrewshire often fills.
Home-Start Renfrewshire works with a partnership approach within pockets
of deprivation however we do provide services throughout the area aiming at
early intervention and prevention and where possible target those most in
need to have the support that is available. We receive self-referrals which
indicates a level of confidence from the community in the service we have
been providing now for 14 years.
We are part of the Renfrewshire Early Years Collaborative “away” team and
are invited along to all prominent events as we are highly respected for the
work we do.
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2.5 Competition
We are the only service which provides a universal free home-visiting
volunteer service to families across the local authority area, giving
individuals the only opportunity to work with families within the families’
home. However the public profile of Home-Start, which is the leading
parenting support charity in the UK, does not currently put the Home-Start
brand at the forefront of public awareness – the upcoming appointment of a
new Director of Scotland is anticipated to change this. Locally our service
compliments other services, such as Barnardos Threads project for parents
under 21, the Families First Renfrewshire locality model – currently in
Linwood and Ferguslie Park and rolling out into Foxbar, Gallowhill and
Johnstone in early 2016. Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation and
the volunteer market has changed in recent years. Often people who
volunteer are doing it for career reasons or as a means to reach another
goal. They can be looking for a quicker turnaround to being able to
volunteer, or have restricted time to commit, and so we need to take
cognisance of this. Funding is also becoming increasingly competitive so this
change in the funding climate needs to be recognised – looking to working
in partnership or setting up consortia, which have not previously been
preferable.
2.6 Working in Partnership
In order to be an effective tool against social exclusion and to improve life
circumstances Home-Start Renfrewshire supports parents in recognising how
their emotional wellbeing directly influences their child’s ability to reach
their full potential. Working in partnership with all statutory and voluntary
organisations in the communities through local partnerships, e.g. local
Health & Wellbeing Networks, Women’s Aid, Women and Children First,
RAMH, Addiction services, nurseries, primary schools, Choose Life suicide
awareness, CPNs, the Renfrewshire Tackling Poverty Commission, housing
associations, churches, hospitals and GPs.
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2.7 External Influences
For our service users the current financial climate in the country with welfare
and housing benefit changes now being rolled out puts additional strains on
families and their relationships. Increasing hardship affects families who are
already experiencing problems and it makes the work we do even more
important. The increasing pressures on employees to perform better with
less financial resources makes our service invaluable for the families who
welcome us; with a volunteer working with them when they need us in their
own homes, or in their communities. We are also valuable for statutory
organisations who are currently being stretched in the current economic
situation.
Home-Start UK has significantly reduced in size in recent years due to
reduced central government funding and the focus (outside of Scotland)
moving away from early years. This reduction in staff from the parent
organisation has meant that schemes have reduced direct support from
Home-Start UK, which affects the national organisations ability to promote
the brand. A new Chief Executive appointed in late 2013 is working to “put
the glue back into the network”. This includes the appointment of the new
Director of Scotland.
Charities of all sizes are being squeezed as local authority funded services
are being cut and the third sector is being expected to pick up the slack with
restricted or no additional funding. Funding is often on an annual basis,
which makes forward planning more difficult. Additionally there have been a
number of high profile charitable financial mismanagement scandals and
this does not build public faith towards charitable giving.
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3. Aims and Objectives
3.1 Core Belief of Home-Start Renfrewshire
Home-Start believes that children need a happy and secure childhood, that
parents play the key role in ensuring their children have a good start in life,
helping them achieve their full potential. We believe, as does the Scottish
Government, that Scotland should be the best place to grow up in the world.
The Scottish Government’s Early Years Framework and GIRFEC (Getting It
Right For Every Child) are at the core of our service.
Home-Start Renfrewshire believes that the service we provide is an effective
contributor to any early intervention strategy, as we focus on strengthening
families and developing resilience.
3.2 Mission Statement
We will give emotional and practical support and friendship to help
parents with young children, in order to give every child the best
possible start in life. We will support parents to grow in confidence,
strengthen their relationship with their children and widen their links
within our local communities.
To achieve this we will offer two types of support:

A unique befriending service, recruiting and training volunteers,
who are usually parents themselves, to visit families at home who
have at least one child under five to offer free informal, friendly,
confidential, non-judgemental and non-discriminatory support

Group support to parents with children up to primary 3 in school
(age 8) which will meet weekly and encourage parent-parent peer
support
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3.3 Home-Start Renfrewshire’s Aims & Values
Home-Start Renfrewshire aims to increase the confidence and independence
of the family by:
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Offering emotional and practical support and friendship
Visiting families in their own homes, where the dignity and identity
of each adult and child can be respected and protected
Reassuring parents that difficulties in bringing up children are not
unusual and encourage them to enjoy family life
Developing a relationship with the family in which time can be
shared and understanding can be developed: the approach is
flexible to take account of each families different needs
Encouraging parents’ strengths and emotional well-being for the
ultimate benefit of their children
Encouraging families to widen their network of relationships,
effectively using the support and service available within the
community
Home-Start Renfrewshire’s values are always to have at the forefront of the
work we do.
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Respect
Trust
Choice
Time
Empathy
Non-judgemental
Inclusive
Responsive
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3.4 Benchmarks
Home-Start Renfrewshire is assessed against the benchmarks outlined below.
3.4.1 Home-Start UK
Benchmarks set out by Home-Start UK:



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35 families through home visiting
Participate fully in the Scottish Governments GIRFEC initiative
Consider at all times child protection
Participate in self-assessment against agreed 8 quality assurance
standards
3.4.2 Home-Start Quality Assurance System
Home-Starts Quality Assurance system was developed by Charities Evaluation
Service (CES) as a bespoke system, incorporating all the elements of PQASSO,
CES’s quality assurance system for small organisations.
The QA system is based on annual self-assessment and is backed up with
three/five yearly, reviews carried out by Home-Start UK QA advisors. As a
result of our self-assessment, we develop improvement action plans and
these action plans inform our strategic planning process.
Our next QA review is scheduled for June 2016.
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4. Strategy Process
4.1 Methodology
Five members of staff, one HNC placement student and six trustees came
together in July 2015 for a Development Day, facilitated by an external
organisation. The aim of the day was to allow:

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

Both parties to get to know each other a little better
Understand the connectedness of each other’s roles
Understand who we are and what we are doing together
Know what we should be doing differently and where we should be
going
Know how we can support the desired reality
Having remained a similar size and capacity for over 13 years in 2014 the
scheme was invited to be part of the local authorities new Early Years
Strategy which brought with it increased profile in the community and also
funding and posts – doubling the size of the scheme in a short period. The
Development Day was to allow us to consider what we had learned from that
and how we would progress in the future, given also that we were aware of a
number of potential areas of growth.
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4.2 Home-Start Renfrewshire’s Objectives
There are 6 key areas to be focussed on over the next 5 years.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Families
Volunteers
Staff
Governance
Funding
Partnerships
Families:

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We will focus our one-to-one home-visiting volunteer support
towards families where children are not yet in education
We will increase our focus on working with parents/carers with
children up to age 8 in education through peer-to-peer support
(such as the Family Group model)
Encourage families to access their entitlements and available
support from both the state and charitable sectors
Support and encourage parents to develop and understand the
need for positive relationships with other universal professionals
involved in their children’s lives (e.g. health visitors, nurseries)
In line with Early Years Strategy locally and nationally, provide
support to parents with children up to 8 years
Consider options to expand the coverage of home-visiting
volunteer support to families in neighbouring areas e.g East
Renfrewshire, Inverclyde from where we regularly receive request
for support
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Volunteers:



Increase the retention of volunteers post-training through the
development of more effective peer support opportunities and
continued training opportunities
Develop alternative volunteer roles in addition to home-visiting and
trustees to maximise the skills offered and to benefit the scheme
Retain at least 50% of our current volunteers year-on-year
Staff:
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Embed regular formal staff support & supervision
Ensure all staff receive an appraisal annually
Support & engage in Renfrewshire Councils Early Years
Collaborative and Early Years strategy groups following GIRFEC and
SHANARRI and child protection guidelines.
Encourage and develop staff teams and their continued personal
development – in line with supervision and appraisal feedback.
Maintain and increase the profile of the project both locally and
nationally through developing a marketing strategy that links in
with the work of Home-Start Scotland and Home-Start UK.
Governance:
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Comply with all relevant Home-Start and partner organisation
assurance standards.
Identify a range of appropriate and relevant local key performance
indicators to ensure that reporting to the Board of Trustees meets
the requirements of QA and allows early identification of issues.
Identify national awards that would be beneficial for the scheme to
achieve e.g Institute of Fundraising, Investing in Volunteers,
Healthy Working Lives
Embed the use of MESH to provide information for reporting to
trustees and funders.
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Funding:


Develop a funding strategy that widens the range of funders and
potential sources of income for both the core service and any
additional activities.
Identify a effective funding model to support this strategy
Partnerships:


Build relationships with local agencies and services that work with
children and families
Consider the consortia model for future working and identify
partner organisations through which we could collaborate on short
or longer term pieces of work – through commonality of themes or
commonality of service users.
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5. Finance
5.1 Financial Projections
In the year 2014/2015 Home-Start Renfrewshire had a total income of
£XXXXX of this £XXXXX came from Renfrewshire Council and the remainder
from a number of grants including Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, The
Bank of Scotland Community Fund and local fundraising.
Below is the summary of the projected financial situation of Home-Start
Renfrewshire over the next five years.
5.2 Budget 2015/ 2020
Home-Start Renfrewshire 5 Year Business Forecast
Income Required
15/16
16/17
17/18
18/19
19/20
Staff Wages
Proposed Staff
Expenses
64676
66616
68614
70673
72793
Staff Expenses
Proposed Staff
Expenses
Trustee Expenses
Stationery
888
915
942
970
999
1517
1563
1610
1658
1707
Office Services
Telephone/Internet
Rent, rates &
Insurance
Electricity
Training
Volunteer Expenses
Office Equipment
Advertising
Family Group
HS Fees
Professional Fees
Depreciation
2247
1432
2314
1475
2383
1519
2455
1565
6249
2529
1612
6437
5719
2605
1205
3565
5491
576
4567
1356
720
0
5891
2683
1241
3672
5655
593
4704
1397
742
0
6067
2764
1278
3782
5825
611
4845
1439
764
0
2847
1317
3895
6000
629
4990
1482
787
0
2932
1356
4012
6180
648
5140
1526
810
0
Total
96564
99461
102443
105517
108681
Expenditure
5.3 Sources of Funding
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Funder
15/16
16/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
45200
48460
49669
1667
45200
45200
45200
45200
46305
49083
48689
49907
Renfrewshire Council
Families First
Big Lottery
Lloyds TSB
Fundraising
One or three years funding from the council would enable Renfrewshire to
apply for match funding from other organisations, trust funds and grants.
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5.4 Contingency Plans/Managing Risk
As recognised good practice, Home-Start Renfrewshire holds three months
running cost as reserves thus allowing us time to wind up the
company/charity appropriately and issue staff with redundancy notices and
payments.
The scheme currently has no funding longer than 12 months however it will
be working in partnership with Home-Start UK to extend the service into the
Inverclyde area as a satellite project with separate funding from the Big
Lottery. The funding committed to this is for 5 years from November 15 and
thus strengthens the core scheme to potential funders.
Home-Start UK has also identified the need to build the profile of Home-Start
nationally and will be appointing imminently a Director of Scotland, one of
whose tasks will be to increase the presence of Home-Start schemes across
the country through building partnerships with other national organisations,
funders and the Scottish Government. This should help to protect all
schemes as the evidence of the impact of our model of support will be
highlighted at higher levels than schemes can manage locally.
Without additional funds we would be looking at a managed and staged
three-month withdrawal of our services.
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Appendix – SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS
Morale & commitment of staff
Passion of staff for the HS ethos
Attractive opportunity to volunteers
Support of volunteers
Strong staff team
Reputation in the community
Support & appreciation of families
Open to change
Hospitality
Practicing of values in our work
Volunteer training course –>good
retention & positive feedback
Social media profile
WEAKNESSES
Security of funding
Security of jobs
Staff not always feeling valued
Level of regular staff supervision
Level of senior staff supervision
Lack of clarity on board & staff roles
Board capacity and commitment
Level of commitment of some volunteers
Communication between staff and trustees
Premises no longer suited to requirements
All staff part-time –> communication and
availability of staff
Turnaround time for volunteers
OPPORTUNITIES
Leading new model of scheme setup
(Inverclyde)
Scottish Government continuing focus
on Early Years
Appointment of HS Director of
Scotland – profile raising locally and
nationally
Local authority locality model –
potential for partnership
New trustees bringing new skills and
knowledge
Using Early Years Collaborative to
build partnership with health
THREATS
Losing good staff
Local authority focussing exclusively on their
locality model
Burnout of staff
Money – no long term funding in place
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