About Home-Start
Home-
Who we are
Home-Start Orkney offers befriending support along with practical and emotional advice in the homes of families who are having difficulties managing parenting for a variety of different reasons.
Home-Start Orkney recruits and trains volunteers from the Orkney islands. We then carefully match the volunteer with a family in need of support. Volunteers are from all walks of life, each and every one a parent or even grandparent, all with a little free time available each week to help provide emotional and practical help to local families. Support is confidential, flexible and totally responsive to the family’s needs.
We are a local charity which has provided invaluable support and friendship to families in the Orkney community since 2001 and has achieved positive outcomes for hundreds of families living in the community.
Home-Start Orkney is affiliated to the national organisation, Home-Start UK, but we are autonomous and responsible for our own management and securing our own funding. Home-Start UK provides advice and support through a local Family Services Specialist and a stringent Quality Assurance review process ensures the scheme operates effectively.
We have 5 members of staff. A team of trained volunteers visit families at home and help support parents at the Family Groups.
Management Committee
Home-Start Orkney is an independent charity run by a Management Committee made up of local professionals (e.g. but not limited to Health Visitors, Teachers, Social Workers),
Our trustees come from all walks of life, bringing their experience and individual skills to our scheme. The kind of skills that are in demand are business or personnel management, finance and fundraising, IT and communications. But you don’t need special qualifications to be a trustee – common sense, flexibility, time and an ability to work as part of a team, a willingness to learn, understanding the pressures facing parents today and a genuine interest in supporting parents in the local community are just as important to us. Please contact us to find out more.
You can download our last AGM report by clicking on the button below.
Helping families in Orkney since 2001
Families helped
Children supported
Volunteers
What we do
Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, frustrating, heartbreaking and overwhelming. All parents struggle at one time or another. For some, the challenges can be greater. You are not alone.
Home-Start’s volunteers work alongside families just like yours to give compassionate and confidential support. We help people to regain the confidence to be the parents they want to be.
The support Home-Start volunteers give is non-judgemental, compassionate and confidential. We work with you to build on your strengths and give you the support that you tell us that you need.
Please get in touch with us to find out how Home-Start Orkney can help you and your family.
Areas we cover
We support families living across the island of Orkney.
“Home-Start raises self-confidence, improves social networks, reduces difficult behaviour on the part of the child and improves mental and physical health”
– Every Child Matters Government Green Paper.
We have no vacancies at present
If you are interested in any of these opportunities please contact 07938634075 or admin@homestartorkney.org.uk
Family support volunteers
Home-Start supports families across our communities who have young children and are facing difficulties, making sure a child’s early years count.
Our Volunteers are trained and given expert support from our staff team so that they can provide the best support for parents and their children.
Through a careful matching process, Home Visiting Volunteers can build a strong and trusting relationship with a family they may go on to support for many months.
We help families from all backgrounds through their most challenging times and just a couple of hours a week can transform the lives of parents and their children.
Our Volunteers provide non-judgmental, compassionate and confidential support, giving families the right help at the right time and in a way that suits them.
By volunteering your time and experiences for just a few hours each week you can even change lives, including your own. We know from research the benefits to our volunteers; in developing new skills, building confidence and relationships and also supporting training and placements for work and study.
Visit our Volunteer Page for more information and get in touch.
Become a Home-Start Trustee
Home-Start Orkney is an independent local charity and being a trustee is all about the governance of the charity. Could you help plan and oversee how we will support families in your community?
You’ll have a wide range of duties and be responsible for making the charity effective, providing overall direction and maintaining sound management of funds. If you have any of these skills:
- general business management
- financial or legal expertise
- IT knowledge
- human resources experience
- PR and media skills
- knowledge of family support issues in the community
then we’d love to hear from you.
To find out more email info@homestartorkney.org.uk
Our Leadership Team
Our leadership team are responsible for the delivery of our services and strategy.
Together, they ensure we’re here for families when they need us most, that our volunteers are trained and supported and that our service remains effective, reaching as many in our communities as possible.
Fiona Carlisle - Project Manager
Oversees the daily management of the service, provides support and supervision to the staff team, responsible for sourcing and applying for funding. Reports regularly to the Board of Trustees
Sarah De Rees - Family Support Co-ordinator
Oversees support to families, including to those living on the isles, assists in running of Group Support sessions, provides Breast Buddies support.
Sadie Stevenson - Volunteer Co-ordinator
Oversees support to Volunteers, providing support and supervision for volunteers, assists in running of Group Support sessions, provides Breast Buddies support.
Denise Cursiter - Perinatal & Infant Mental Health Co-ordinator
Oversees support to families in the perinatal period, assists in running of Group Support sessions.
Michelle Taylor - Administrator
Oversees the day to day admin for the staff and volunteers.
Our trustees
Our Board of Trustees, like other volunteers, give their time and experience to make our organisation the best it can be.
Our Board is responsible for setting the direction of our organisation, strategic decisions, governance, legal compliance and leadership. Working closely with the Manager and the staff, Trustees are essential to the operation of our charity.
Anyone interested in bringing their skills and experience to our Board is invited to make contact with our Chair to discuss any opportunities or to express an interest in future vacancies: admin@homestartorkney.org.uk
Become a Home-Start Volunteer Today
Home-Start’s team of trained volunteers make sure a child’s early years count. By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.