Home–Start Hatfield Breaks Manor Link Drive Hatfield AL10 8TP 01707 708606 [email protected]

About Home-Start Welwyn Hatfield

Home-Start Welwyn Hatfield provides a unique service for families - recruiting and training volunteers with parenting experience to predominantly support parents with children under the age of 5 in their own homes, and any elder siblings.

Volunteers offer at least 2 hours support a week in the home, offering emotional and practical support to families who are finding life a challenge due to a range of difficulties such as being new to an area, no family/friend support, multiple births, post natal depression, bereavement or coping with a child’s illness/disability.

Home-Start Welwyn Hatfield opened its office in February 2010 and began supporting families with home-visiting volunteers in July 2010. As we celebrate 5 years of home visiting support the scheme has supported 134 families, supporting at least 304 children. During this period over 1700 visits to families have been made, offering 3,927 hours of support.

In addition to home visiting volunteers our charity is reliant upon the expertise of Trustees who are responsible for setting the strategic direction and governance of the scheme.

Since opening the scheme has trained 64 home-visiting volunteers in various skills, including child development, listening skills, parenting support, early years nutrition training and safeguarding.

These are a few things the families have said to us:

“Knowing my volunteer is coming, “If it wasn’t for Home-Start makes a big difference not only to I wouldn’t be here, and my the day she comes, but the whole children would be in care!” Registered charityweek”. no: 1 130534. Registered in England and Wales: 6951050

“My volunteer is such a lovely, warm, thoughtful lady who nothing is too much for”

Other Facts:

Welwyn and Hatfield is now the 5th most deprived within Hertfordshire's nine . Hatfield Central is a lower super output area with an average population of 1500 - and the area to the north west falls within 20% of the most deprived areas in England.

Home-Start Welwyn Hatfield Families Supported by Division from 22/02/2010 to 24 June 2015 Division and Ward No families No children Haldens Division 15 35 Handside & Peartree Division 20 49 Hatfield North Division 45 112 Hatfield Rural Division 5 11 Hatfield South Division 17 36 Welwyn Division 13 28 South Division 19 41 TOTAL 134 312

Why is the Home-Start home visiting service unique? As a charity our service is unique in being set up to provide a dedicated home visiting service for families with at least one child under five and their siblings.

Our contract with HCC funds our work to support a family for 9 months, although to create a trusting relationship and ensure that change is embedded may require longer. Other services may only offer 6 weeks targeted support.

We empower and strengthen parents so that they are more resilient and able to cope with life.

Home–Start Welwyn Hatfield Breaks Manor Link Drive Hatfield Hertfordshire AL10 8TP 01707 708606 [email protected] We receive referrals from Health Visitors (45%) and childrens centres (17%) – the same services that in future will be expected to meet the needs of vulnerable families. However, it is worth noting that although our scheme as present receives only 1% of referrals from Social Services for other older schemes in the county this figure will be much higher.

During the last 2 years HCC has encouraged us to collaborate with the other 8 schemes in Hertfordshire in readiness for sending a joint tender during the summer.

We need your support:

Children’s Services Panel Cabinet will consider a recommendation to end HCC funding to our scheme, and the other 8 Home-Start’s in Hertfordshire. Please consider the wider facts, and pledge your support to an alternative solution whereby Home-Starts competitively tender to demonstrate why as an independent charity we are best placed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children and families in Hertfordshire through volunteers offering 2 hour home visiting support.

Registered charity no: 1130534. Registered in England and Wales: 6951050

Thank you.