Twenty-five awards were presented at the Bournemouth Business Awards, with Home-Start Wessex winning silver in the Community Support category.

Marketing West Events organise these to celebrate the achievements of local businesses providing a wide range of services.

The Community Support Award is open to any business, individual or organisation that can demonstrate commitment to the local community through services, fundraising or physical or mental support.

Home-Start Wessex is a family support charity that helps parents with at least one child under 5 when they are in crisis. More and more families have been in crisis over the past few years, and Home-Start Wessex has been there when it counts.

We offer friendship, practical support and emotional advice to families in Dorset who are struggling for a variety of reasons, including poor mental health, postnatal depression, disability, domestic abuse, bereavement, isolation, financial hardship and multiple births.

Our mission is to give children the best possible start in life so that no child’s future is limited.

When Home-Start West Dorset became a victim of the funding crisis in October 2023, we immediately extended our reach to support families in Dorchester, Weymouth, Portland, Bridport and down to Lyme Regis. We stepped into the vacuum that could so easily have been left behind and now cover a huge area with a population of over 650,000, including many pockets of high-level deprivation.

Thank you to all of our supporters as always. We couldn’t do it without you.