Charity on the hunt for new volunteers

A charity that supports families with young children and babies through tough times has launched a campaign to recruit Monklands volunteers after seeing a rise in demand during the pandemic.

Home-start North Lanarkshire is looking for people who can spare a few hours a week to help deliver their services to families with children under the age of five.

The support that volunteers give families today will last a lifetime.

Amanda Arkell from the charity told the Advertiser: “Home-start has seen referrals rise during the pandemic, making the charity more important than ever to support parents with many issues including isolation, loneliness, mental health, financial worries, disabilities and bereavement.

“We are looking for people who can pass forward some of their spare time and kindness to make a real difference to another person’s life. If you have the time, we have the role and would welcome you into our fantastic team.”

Home-start North Lanarkshire needs to recruit an extra 15 volunteers to help respond to families after Covid.

The charity has not only seen an increased demand, but also many volunteers who have worked with the charity for a long time stopped volunteering during the pandemic due to a change in personal circumstances.

Home-start North Lanarkshire is among a network of more than 180 Home-starts across the UK whose staff and trained volunteers offer parents compassionate, non-judgemental support.

As part of the Home-visiting service, volunteers complete an in-depth training programme after which they are matched to a family who they visit once a week.

One mum described it as “life changing” when her volunteer came every week to hold her colicky tearful baby, enabling her to shower in peace then sort out paperwork.

Volunteer co-ordinator Emily Atkinson added: “Volunteering is a wonderfully rewarding opportunity to give your time knowing it is making a big difference to a family in our community.

“It is such a simple concept but a really powerful one. Our volunteers are all ages, male and female, with many different backgrounds and experiences. Not all of them are parents.

“Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, frustrating, heart breaking and overwhelming.

“Life changing events can happen to anyone. That is why we are here to stand alongside families when they need us most – and we need more amazing volunteers to help us do that.”

If you can spare as little as two hours a week, you can find out more by heading to https:// homestartglasgownorth.org.uk/volunteer/ or sending an email to info@homestartnl.org.uk