Home Start Oldham, Stockport and Tameside

If you’re struggling with the demands of a young family, Home-Start can help.

Everybody needs a little help sometimes, and there are any number of things which might make parenting even more challenging, for example:

• Feeling isolated
• Lack of local family or friends for support
• Finding it hard to cope because of illness, disability or mental health issues
• Hit hard by the death of a loved one
• Multiple births
• Financial difficulties
• Families seeking asylum

This is not an exhaustive list – whatever challenges you are facing, Home-Start can provide free, confidential support for as long as you need.

There is no ‘typical’ Home-Start family – if you are in Tameside, Oldham or Stockport and have a child under 5 years old, you are eligible to receive Home-Start support. Our families reflect the diverse communities we serve.

If you are referred or refer yourself for Home-Start support, you’ll be allocated a co-ordinator who will visit you for a chat to find our how best we can support you.  We will then match you with one of our volunteers, who will visit you for a couple of hours a week and give you both emotional and practical help.

All our volunteers are parents themselves – it’s really important to us that you are supported by someone who understands what it’s like to be a parent.  Our volunteers all hold an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service certificate (formerly CRB check) and undergo full training before being matched with you.

The main referrers to Home-Start HOST are health visitors and professionals in the social care and child care sectors. Others include GP’s and those working in the fields of mental health, education and early years. We also accept self referrals from families directly.