Volunteer for Home-Start
By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.
Be a Home-Start volunteer
No special qualifications are necessary to become a Home-
Talking and listening can empower families to overcome their difficult situations. Volunteers are offered on-going training and support activities including specialist speakers and visits to family support services, as well as informal social gatherings.
What it takes to be a Home-Start Volunteer
- You must be a parent or have parenting experience.
- As a Home-Start volunteer you will support a family by visiting them at home for around two to three hours once a week.
- You should be able to commit at least one year of your time to Home-Start.
- You should have a non-judgmental attitude and understand about the pressures of bringing up a family.
- You will have to attend our free Volunteer Preparation Course with other new volunteers before meeting your first family.
- When visiting a family, your travel expenses are paid.
- You must understand that your support to families is completely confidential.
- You will have to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service check at enhanced level.
- You will meet regularly with, and be supported by, one of our co-ordinators during the time you are visiting families.
Do you have what it takes to be a Home-Start volunteer? Are keen to help parents and children in your community? Please download an application form to start your journey transforming lives in your area.
Volunteer stories
Training to be a Home-Start East Lothian volunteer
We run regular Volunteer Preparation Course’s within the county. Please contact the Home Start East Lothian office to find out when our next Preparation Course begins.
Volunteer testimonials
Home-Start East Lothian is a good organisation and volunteering is both enjoyable and rewarding. After retiring from teaching, being a volunteer and a trustee still keeps me in touch with young childrena nd families in a relaxed, voluntary setting.Â
To feel like you are making a difference to a family.Â
I love being a volunteer because I meet new people and find it so rewarding giving something back.
Other ways to volunteer for Home-Start
Volunteering by sharing your skills in other areas of our work
If being a Peer Support Volunteer isn’t for you, you may be able to help us in others ways. Many have volunteered their time and skills for:
- allotment
- supporting family groups & outings
- administration work
- music, craft and storytelling
- healthy eating sessions
- fundraising
- digital promotion
- and so much more
You may also be able to help in ways we haven’t thought about yet.
So if you want to get involved, get in touch and let us know what you have in mind.
Join us as a Trustee to help shape the future of our work with families
Our Trustees provide essential leadership, guidance and governance from their own professional or lived experiences. They also play an important role as ambassadors for our work and can offer particular skills to the organisation (like human resources, information management or finance, for example). We welcome interest from those who can be passionate about our work with parents, children, families and the community.
Importantly, the Board of Trustees should reflect the communities in which we work. We already benefit from a variety of skills, experiences and backgrounds and now need to add to that dynamic and creative team.
The minimum commitment as a Trustee is a few hours each month, to attend meetings or to engage in Board discussions via email and online forums. Further opportunities to get involved are possible too, so we can be flexible to suit individual motivations to volunteer.
If you are interested in finding out more about the opportunity to join us, please contact us to arrange an informal chat.
Become a Home-Start Volunteer Today
Home-Start’s team of trained volunteers make sure a child’s early years count. By volunteering just a few hours each week you can transform the lives of young children and their parents in your community.