6,000 hours of help for families

A WARRINGTON charity, which hopes to offer 6,000 hours a year support to families and children under five, launched its 10-year plan at The Gateway.
Home-Start Warrington’s Destination 2020 event was attended by the Mayor, Coun Brian Axcell, the leader of the borough council Coun Ian Marks, and members of the council, business community and Warrington Primary Care Trust.
The charity started in 1999 in Warrington and recruits and trains volunteers to befriend and support families with children under five. By summer it expects to have 50 trained volunteers delivering over 150 hours of support per week – totalling 6,000 hours per year.
Kate Griffiths, family support co-coordinator, said: “Since the economic downturn the demand for our support has increased, but we have been very fortunate that we have had plenty of Warrington people looking to volunteer to support families in need.
“When I joined Home-Start three years ago, we only had around 15 volunteers. By this summer we will have over 50. That is a credit to the people of Warrington.”
Last year the charity supported 77 families, including more than 300 children. Volunteers are parents supporting other parents in a variety of situations including isolation, bereavement, multiple births, illness or disability.
Chairman he Rev Stephen Kingsnorth said: “Sometimes our funding has been rather hand-to-mouth over the last 10 years.
“So many children and families have benefited through the support we have been able to give – volunteers and staff lives have been affected too! We are looking forward to the next decade. These are tough times for those from institutions and organisations sorting out their budgets – but Home-Start offers such a brilliant service and we believe it is great value for money.”
Anyone interested in getting involved with the charity should phone 01925 652320 for more information.
Pictured: The Mayor cuts a special celebration cake watched by the Mayoress and the Rev Kingsnorth