Family Support Volunteer - Rushmoor and Hart

Do something amazing and help a family in Rushmoor or Hart! 

Home-Start is a local charity supporting parents who are going through challenging times. Trained volunteers work alongside families to give compassionate and confidential support, tailored to each family.

At the heart of Home-Start Hampshire is our fantastic network of volunteers and as demand for support continues to increase, we are looking for additional volunteers to join our team.

Could you?

• Be a friendly source of support
• Offer a listening ear to a parent feeling overwhelmed or isolated
• Help a family attend a group or visit the local park
• Help a family to access other services
• Have fun, play games and read stories!

Families may need a little extra support for a multitude of reasons - a parent or child may have an illness, post natal depression, family bereavement, a spouse in the army, multiple births or disabilities.

Once fully trained our volunteers are matched with a suitable family and visit them in their home for 1-2 hours weekly or fortnightly (at a mutually convenient time) usually for a period of around 6 to 9 months. Alternatively, volunteers can help at one of our family support groups.

Training

A flexible, eLearning preparation course is provided for new volunteers that can be completed in your own time with ongoing support that is readily on hand with our Family Co-ordinators.

Volunteers must be 18+

Skills

• Be a parent or have parenting experience.
  
• Have a positive attitude to working with people of any gender, family status or sexual identity, or who are from any ethnic origin, culture or religion, or who may have a disability.
• Demonstrate a sensitive and caring attitude towards others.
• Have a non-judgmental attitude.
• Be clear about confidentiality and when a confidence remains so, but be able to take action when disclosure of a confidence is essential to the well-being of a child.
• Be reliable and understand the importance of reliability to families.
• Have good communication skills including an ability to listen.
• Understand the need for support.
• Have a warm and open personality and a sense of humour.
• Have time and enthusiasm for Home-Start.
• Be able to commit for at least 12 months following preparation training.
• Be able to work as a member of a team.
• Be prepared to keep and submit records as requested by the scheme.