We provide support and friendship for families who are struggling to cope with a wide of range of situations such as loneliness, mental ill-health, disabilities, multiple children, and increasing poverty and debt, support is provided to help prevent crisis and family breakdown. We recruit, train and support volunteers who are parents from the local community, to visit families in their own homes for 2-3 hours per week in order to provide practical help and emotional support to families Home-Start Trafford began in 1999, extending its geographical reach into Salford in 2012 and then officially expanding further into Wigan and Leigh in 2019. Although it is a part of Home-Start UK, which has been in operation since 1973, it is a locally run voluntary organisation operating as an independent Charitable Company, strategically managed by a Board of Trustees made up of local professional volunteers. At the heart of our charity is the belief that parents have a key role in creating a secure and happy environment for their children. Sometimes parents need a bit of help, which is where Home-Start comes in. Our families are regularly visited in their own homes by our trained volunteers; all have had an experience of parenting and appreciate how hard it can be. Home-Start Trafford, Salford, Wigan (HSTSW) work closely with existing family services in the Borough of Trafford, Wigan and Leigh and the City of Salford. HSTSW work in partnership with the midwifery team at Salford University to train local volunteers to provide pregnancy and postnatal support to mums to be. HSTSW also works in partnership with clinical teams to offer an enhanced support service focusing on PIMH (Parent-Infant Mental Health). HSTSW supports over 200 families a year, from an army of over 150 local volunteers.
