FAMILIES going through a tough time can get help from Home Start thanks to a Tackling Poverty Grant.
Wokingham United Charities has given Home-Start Wokingham District £9,625 to help them support vulnerable people.
Amy Fennell, scheme fundraiser for the charity, said: “The money will be used to provide more families with compassionate and non-judgmental support in their homes.
“They may be vulnerable due to a range of challenges such as mental health problems, illness, disability, family breakdown and isolation.
“Many of the families are single parents on low incomes with little or no other support.
“Some have newborns including twins or triplets or multiple children under the age of five with difficulties such as autism and ADHD.
“Working alongside them we agree a set of goals to reach which will get them through a particularly tough time.”
The Tackling Poverty Grant will provide recruitment and training of volunteers, family assessments, volunteer supervisions, and regular monitoring of families’ needs.
“We are enormously grateful to WUC for their support,” Amy continued.
“It means we will be able to help improve the lives of more families, giving their children a better start in life.
“Just knowing someone they can trust will come and help them once a week can make all the difference.
“One mum told us that the unique, emotional and practical support we gave her family has been simply life changing.”
Home-Start Wokingham offers a family support service to disadvantaged and vulnerable families in the Wokingham district with at least one child under the age of five.
A team of trained volunteers, usually parents themselves, work alongside parents providing compassionate, confidential and non-judgmental support.
Through weekly visits to the family home, volunteers help parents gain the tools they need to face their particular challenges.
The charity says that supporting parents to cope with their daily parenting challenges has a direct impact on their young children, who learn important social skills, reach developmental milestones and start to reach their potential within a supported family environment.
For information, visit: www.home-startwd.org.uk
