Telford & Wrekin family support charity celebrates National Volunteers Week

A charity that supports families across the Telford & Wrekin area is celebrating its team of dedicated volunteers by saying a big “thank you” for the support they give local parents experiencing tough times.

It is more than 50 years since the first Home-Start began supporting families in Leicester, and now Home-Start Telford & Wrekin is thanking its team of 52 trained volunteers as part of this year’s Volunteers’ Week.

National Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of volunteering across the UK, which takes place from June 3-9.

For Home-Start Telford & Wrekin is a chance to recognise the contribution made by their volunteers who support families in the community on issues including postnatal depression, coping with twins, bereavement, supporting a parent or child with physical disabilities, domestic abuse or financial worries.

Home-Start Telford & Wrekin is hosting its own volunteer event in July when it will be staging a garden party to thank the volunteer team as well as celebrating receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service this year.

Caia Bryant-Griffiths, strategic lead for Home-Start Telford & Wrekin, said: “We are so proud of our wonderful volunteers and the contribution they make in supporting parents locally. This national week gives us the perfect chance to let them know how special they all are. It’s also the ideal opportunity to raise awareness for anyone else in the community who might feel inspired to join the team.

“There are many volunteer opportunities including visiting families in the community, office experience and trustee roles. If you’re a new parent who feels like Home-Start support might help you can get in touch with us via our website at homestarttelfordandwrekin.co.uk

“Alternatively, if you think you could give a couple of hours a week to provide a family with support then Home-Start Telford & Wrekin’s next training course starts at the end of September. Please email us at info@homestarttandw.org.uk or call on 01952 872280 for details,” she said.

For many organisations, National Volunteers Week is a chance to showcase the range of volunteering opportunities on offer and to show people how, through volunteering, they can make a difference to a cause they are passionate about as well as boost their own personal skills.

Sally Munday, Volunteer Development Manager at Home-Start UK, said: “Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, frustrating, heart breaking and over-whelming. The Home-Start network has stood alongside families when they need us most. The most incredible volunteers are at the very heart of it all. National Volunteers Week is the perfect opportunity to say thank you to our network of around 10,000 Home-Start volunteers around the country.”

Home-Start volunteers are all trained and, if they become a home-visiting volunteer, are matched with a local family who they visit once a week for around two hours to support them in whatever ways they need.

Since 1973, Home-Start has supported over 1.5 million children with more than 180 local Home-Starts supporting 56,000 children in 27,000 families in communities across the UK last year.