Home-Start Wessex provides family support to local, vulnerable and disadvantaged families with at least one child under five.

We offer a variety of support options. Sometimes the family’s needs would be better suited within a group setting, through matching with a volunteer, telephone befriender, or with a trained co-ordinator or rapid response intervention worker.

Please check the information on our website for details of the geographical locations that we cover and the groups that we currently run.

Individual family referral forms are available on our website.

Prior to submitting the referral, the family must have agreed to and be willing to have support from Home-Start Wessex.

Sometimes we need to return referrals if they are incomplete or sometimes, we may need further information. We will request this via email to you.

There are a variety of reasons why we may be able to accept your referral. Examples:

– No children under 5

– Outside of our geographical location

 – Unsafe situation

 – Family who only require childcare

 – Incomplete referral

You will be informed of the outcome of the referral review by email. You can expect a further update once the initial assessment has been completed, and the co-ordinator will share our agreed outcomes with you. You are invited to attend these reviews.

You will receive a further update mid-way and on conclusion of our support.

Other occasions that we might need to contact you:

– If we have concerns that we need to escalate or discuss with you

We ask you to keep us informed of any changes or updates and there will be an opportunity for you to evaluate our intervention at the middle and end of our support. At the end of the support, we ask you to provide feedback by means of an evaluation form.

Home-Start Wessex’s aim is to encourage families towards independence and is consistent with the family’s needs.

Weekly support can be offered for up to six months, either with a trained co-ordinator, intervention worker, a volunteer or within a group setting.

Clear plans will be agreed with the family, prior to ending our support.

We accept referrals at Universal or Partnership Plus level.

In the Bournemouth area, our charitable funding does not enable us to provide support to Child in Need or Child Protection families. Although if these families are later de-escalated, we may be able to step in to support.

We do have access to funding reserves within East and West Dorset to support more complex families.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions relating to who can be referred:

Via email: office@homestartwessex.org.uk

Via Telephone: 01202 574877

Please check our website for further information about our service, including the groups we are currently running across Bournemouth, Poole, East Dorset, The Purbecks and West Dorset.

We meet weekly to review referrals.

All appropriate referrals for which we can meet the family needs will be accepted. You will be informed of the outcome via email.

We may also suggest signposting to other providers.

Once the referral has been accepted, we will either signpost the family to a group or a co-ordinator will plan to meet the family to complete an initial assessment.

The aim of the visit is to determine parent-led outcomes and goals in addition to confirming their verbal agreement to engage in our support plan.

We aim to contact the family within 2-4 weeks of the allocation of the referral.

The co-ordinator pays careful attention to matching volunteers’ skills and experience to the needs of families and many factors are taken into consideration, including:

– The family’s needs

 – The volunteer’s aptitudes, skills and experience

 – Practical considerations: geography, transport and time

 – Mutual interests or life experience

 – What motivates the volunteer

– Issues around culture, gender, background and disability

 The success of Home-Start support is dependent on the relationship that develops between the family and the volunteer, so co-ordinators make every effort to link sensitively and appropriately.

The co-ordinator always accompanies the volunteer on the first visit to introduce the volunteer to the family and set the ground rules for visiting. The co-ordinator will stay as long as appropriate to support the family and volunteer to get to know each other.

Our volunteers receive supervision every six weeks and this provides the volunteer with the opportunity to share progress, family achievements and raise any concerns that they may have.

Families can be offered support outside their home, which compliments home-visiting support, for example, family groups, outings and parenting information.

Families may be offered alternatives to home-visiting volunteers if it is felt to be more appropriate. Examples of these are trained co-ordinators or rapid response intervention workers.

We have a rapid response intervention worker who specialises in Special Educational Needs.

 For details of the services currently available please phone our office or check our website.