Home-Start celebrates 20 years in county
A local parental support charity is celebrating 20 years working in the county.
The befriending charity, Home-Start West Lothian, formed in 2000 and offers parents with young children in West Lothian vital support to help them overcome challenging times.
Since its inception the charity in Livingston has grown from supporting 16 families in their inaugural year to helping over 1200 families and nearly 3000 children in two decades.
During Covid-19 they have so far managed to continue to operate their service and have already supported 65 families and 145 children.
The UK-wide charity was created in 1973 and has over 200 Home Start franchises with 13,500 home-visiting volunteers supporting over 27,000 families and 56,000 children per year.
Staff and volunteers work closely with families in need and offer weekly homevisits by specially trained volunteers, one-to-one support and run a range of supported outings for parents and children.
They are currently seeking volunteers for their West Lothian support service.
Stuart Barrie, Scheme Manager, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement to be celebrating 20 years of Home-Start West Lothian supporting families who need us most in our own communities.
“We work alongside parents everyday to help and support them through challenging times in their life.
“We are always looking for more volunteers to support the great work that is being undertaken, so please do get in touch with us if you could spare a couple of hours a week helping a local family in your area.”
Paula Roots, alongside Margaret Harrison CBE and Dave Milligan, helped launch Home-Start West Lothian 20 years ago.
She said: “The primary aim of HomeStart has always been to give children the best possible start in life, because childhood can’t wait. It is great to see Home-Start West Lothian continuing to grow and support more families every year.
“I wish Home-Start West Lothian all the best for future years and look forward to seeing the charity support even more families in West Lothian and to continue to keep making a difference to parents and children who need them.”
Home-Start West Lothian offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children, in communities throughout West Lothian. It offera a unique service, recruiting and training volunteers – who are usually parents themselves – to visit families at home who have at least one child under 5 to offer informal, friendly and confidential support.
For more information on Home-Start West Lothian visit www.homestartwl. org.uk.
Or contact stuart@homestartwl.org.uk or call 01506 415755.