Meet our team and volunteer with us today
Caroline Saskia Mark
I’ve been volunteering with Home-Start for around 3 years and absolutely love it. I had retired during Covid and decided I’d wanted to continue in a supporting role working with kids (having previously been a Child Care & Education Worker). I saw the ad for recruiting volunteers on social media and decided to inquire. I find that families face a number of struggles these days, whether single parenting, being far from local family, or just needing someone to talk to or give them a break for a while, so I find helping in any of these areas really fulfilling. I enjoy working with the kids, love the nurture and developing aspect as well as the contact with parents, helping to get them involved in the local community and of course in overcoming any challenges they may have. I volunteered with one young lad who was very shy and quiet at first, hiding behind his mum on my first visit before eventually opening up a bit, introducing me to his toys and then after a period, finally being confident enough to be able to come on short trips away to give his parents a short time together. I find that the Home-Start groups are always really well organised and friendly and a wonderful organisation that makes a real difference to the local area.
I enjoy helping the community and working with children. Being able to help families feels really rewarding, we do this in a number of ways, for example getting outside and taking people out on walks into nature, or a wild messy play! One of the best things about Home-Start Lorn is that we don’t have strict criteria for families, so almost anybody can access the service, meaning all families are welcomed and included.
I also offer support to a number of families 1 to 1 and find that being able to help a new parent who is exhausted and needs a break really benefits from a bit of time to themselves, helping them to recharge and get on with the rest of their day.
The Board of Trustees for HomeStart Lorn currently oversee the family support services that are offered in and about Oban and on Mull. As Chair of the Board, I manage the overall service, and along with the Trustees, ensure we have a clear plan going forward, that it is both fit for purpose and will see us serve the community for another 30 years, while also meeting the standards set by Home-Start UK. The Board makes sure that we are listening to families expectations of us, that the service is tailored to the needs of our local communities, has positive relationships with our local partners and has enough money to do what we say we will do. Whilst employing several staff, Home-Start Lorn is a volunteer led service whose contributions reflect their background and interests: some work directly supporting families; some run groups; some train and teach others, some are Trustees. Volunteering is hugely rewarding and we endeavour to match the role of the volunteer to what someone can offer.
Our Home-Start family is getting bigger and more diverse and we are always looking for more volunteers to help us expand our service. Do join us, if you think you have something to offer.