News & Events
There is always something new happening at our office of Home-Start. See below for some recent news and developments:
What is Home-Start BGR?
Home-Start BGR is Home-Start BGR is a charity that offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children in local communities.
We offer a unique service, recruiting and training volunteers who are usually parents to visit families with at least one child under 5 at home to offer informal, friendly and confidential support
News
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Date: 8th September 2009 |
Issue no.2 Claire Cartwright |
Newsletter for volunteers from Home-Start Butetown,Grangetown,Riverside,Adamsdown,Splott and Tremorfa 
DEVELOPMENTS
The Big Lottery (people and Places) grant, Lloyds TSB foundation plus Cardiff Cymorth monies have allowed Home-Start BGR to continue its invaluable work in Butetown,Grangetown,Riverside,Adamsdown,Splott and Tremorfa plus expand the work into: Canton,Cathays,PlasNewydd,Gabalfa,Heath,Rhiwbina,Llanishen,Whitchurch plus BME Cardiff wide.
During 2008-2009 we supported 136 families and 285 children
Since April of this year we have supported 102 families and 218 children
The planned developments in to the new areas of Cardiff are working well but with changes in the Sure Start provision in the Butetown, Grangetown and Riverside areas of Cardiff has meant that we are struggling to cope with demand. Due to the requests for the service we now have a waiting list.
We have had to take the very hard decision to close all new referrals for these areas until December of this year.
STAFF AND VOLUNTER CHANGES
We have expanded the team of paid staff plus are actively recruiting and preparing new volunteers to keep up with the demand for the service plus help to clear the current waiting list
| Claire Cartwright | Manager |
| Christine Way | Scheme Coordinator - Temp |
| Janet Marks | Scheme Coordinator |
| Geraldine Griffith | Scheme Secretary |
| Lois Lees | Administrative Support |
| Cliona O'Brien | Family Development Worker - Temp |
| Louise Davies | Family Development Worker |
| Bev Young | Family Development Worker |
| Helen McDonagh | Family Development Worker |
We are currently running 2 volunteer preparation courses at the Loudoun Square office- Tuesday and Thursday plus continuing to run our ongoing training programme for current volunteers
We currently have 47 volunteers supporting the Home-Start BGR service and 16 currently on the volunteer preparation course
If you or you know someone who is interested in volunteering please contact the Butetown office
Celebration of volunteers held at Cardiff Castle –June 2009
Volunteers Iney, Louise and 
Cliona
Since the event Louise has become a Family Development Worker
WHAT DOES HOME-START DO AND WHAT DOESN’T IT DO
We help to increase the confidence and independence of families by:
- Visiting families in their own homes to offer support, friendship and practical assistance
- Reassuring parents that their childcare problems are not unusual or unique
- Encouraging parents' strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their children
- Trying to get the fun back into family life
Our volunteers and staff, who are usually parents themselves, can offer:
- Precious time for listening and talking
- Help with the children
- Very occasionally a break for parents
- Practical help and reassurance
- A chance to meet other parents in the same boat
- Support to use local services and resources
Parents ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:
- They may feel isolated in their community, have no family nearby and be struggling to make friends
- They may be finding it hard to cope because of their own or a child's physical or mental illness
- They may have been hit hard by the death of a loved one
- They may be really struggling the with emotional and physical demands of having twins or triplets - perhaps born into an already large family
We are unable to offer:
- Child minding
- Daily help
- An ironing service
- Financial assistance
- Help with English classes
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Home-Start BGR is involved with many developments for the benefit of parents and children in Cardiff this includes:
| Cardiff Family Support Strategy | Cardiff Family Information Service |
| Cardiff Parenting Programmes and Parenting Support | Cardiff Multi-Agency Planning Protocols |
| Tremorfa Early Years Project | Cardiff Parenting Framework and Implementation Plan |
| Parent Participation Toolkit | Grangetown Phoenix Group |
| Cardiff Compact | Children in Need |
| Race Equality First | WCVA |
| Voluntary Action Cardiff | Forced Marriage Unit |
| Home-Start Diversity and Inclusion | Home-Start Monitoring and Evaluation |
There has also been a change in Home-Start Ely since their Manager decided to move on to new challenges last year. Their trustee board has approached the board of Home-Start BGR with a possible merger planned for April 2010.
Since September 2008 Claire has managed both schemes plus the planned developments with Home-Start BGR
Home-Start Butetown, Grangetown and Riverside (BGR) and Home-Start Ely and Caerau are committed to the provision of Home-Start services across central Cardiff for the benefit of families and children.
The two Home-Start schemes want to maximise the impact of their services and the effective use of public investment and continue to deliver the aims of the Cardiff Children and Young People’s Plan through investment from the Welsh Assembly Government / Cymorth and Local Health Board.
To increase the reach and impact of their services and maximise their effectiveness, the two scheme currently known as Home-Start BGR and Home-Start Ely and Caerau are proposing to merge in April 2010 with Home-Start BGR as the receiving scheme.
The proposed merger is based on the following principles:
- All current services for families and children will be protected and maintained
- All service users will receive continuity of service
- All staff within the two schemes will be protected
The principles underpin the following aims through merger:
- To increase the reach and impact of Home-Start services in central Cardiff
- To provide greater support and development opportunities for the staff teams
- To secure the financial position of Home-Start services in central Cardiff
- To create greater efficiencies and return on investment
- To provide opportunities for growth
- To develop the effectiveness of Home-Start management and governance
The basis of the proposed merger is currently being developed in line with the agreed principles and aims. A Working Party has been established to manage this process which will be working closely with Home-Start Wales and reporting to the two Trustee Boards.
It is anticipated that the merger process will be developed throughout 2009-2010 with an aim to establish a merger in April 2010. Current staff, trustees, funders, government agencies, the Charity Commission, and other stakeholders will be consulted throughout this process and all feedback will be used to inform the basis of the proposed merger.
To know more about the Home-Start BGR service please contact the office to arrange an informal meeting over a coffee or visit our website
www.homestartsouthcardiff.co.uk
Christmas newsletter 2008!
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Date: 10th December 2008 |
Issue no.1 Claire Cartwright |
WE ARE EXPANDING!
On the 9th December 2008 we were delighted to be informed that the Big Lottery (People and Places) committee has approved our application for funding.
The grant for 3 years will enable us to develop the scheme into the North of Cardiff, work with the BME community throughout Cardiff plus sustain the service we have at the moment.
A massive thank you must go to Jon Sait our Chair, the trustees and Lesley Austin from Home-Start Wales who have worked closely with me through the application process.
There will be a press release by the Big Lottery on the 19th December!
WELCOME
We welcome 19 new home visiting volunteers who recently completed the volunteer preparation course. Feedback on the course was extremely positive with many sad to see the course come to an end. Congratulations to Julie who ran 2 sessions each week.
Some of these new volunteers have already been placed with local families
We also welcome 4 new trustees who joined the management committee during the summer.
THE FIRST MINISTER RHODRI MORGAN VISITS THE SCHEME
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The First Minister made a visit to the scheme to hear more about the role of the volunteer and the ethos of Home-Start |
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The role of a Home-Start volunteer or worker sounds simple – we offer friendship and support at times of difficulty for parents with at least one child under 5.The offer of someone who is reliable, trustworthy and friendly who will not judge you for the mistakes that we all have made whilst bringing up small children is an that many parents take up.
In return for their time and commitment volunteers and the team have the rewards of watching a family grow, sharing the milestones and pleasures together with the difficult times.
SUMMER TRIPS
During the summer we had 2 fantastic trips. The rain did not stop us all having a great day. Thank you all for the help on the day- you all made an enormous difference to the families.
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CHRISTMAS ARRANGEMENTS
All the children of the families we are supporting will receive a gift. Gifts this year have been provided by the “Pocket full of gifts “campaign. Don’t forget the wrapping day 19th December. Thank you to Geraldine and Julie for coordinating this massive event. The office will be closed from the 23rd December until the 5th January but Claire will be available on her mobile.Tel: 07811959680. Please remember that if you do visit your family during this time to txt or phone in/out |
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Seasons greetings to you all
Thank you to Algebra for printing this newsletter
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting took place in January 2007 attended by families, volunteers and referrers. Rita Lewis was our guest speaker- topic "The difference Home-Start does make". We say good bye and thank you to those trustees who stepped down after many years guiding the scheme and welcome new trustees to the committee. If you are interested in supporting the scheme please contact Claire for details.
Volunteers are our lifeline!
Margaret a home visiting volunteer supporting many families for over 7 years was awarded the highly commended volunteer award from WCVA.Well Done.
Roz and Imelda trustees of over 12 years between them were invited to a celebration of volunteers at Jury's hotel to represent Home-Start BGR. This was the 2nd annual event held by Cardiff City Council to say thank you.
The next volunteer preparation course is planned for September 2007.If you would like to make a difference to local families, enhance your skills, be part of the largest family support charity in Britain and make new friends please contact Claire or Geraldine for more details. We provide full training, support, supervision and all out of pocket expenses are paid.
Volunteers are crucial to the work of Home-Start and we appreciate them in different ways. In March we attended Sweet; Soul music at St David's and during volunteer week all volunteers received a bouquet of flowers.
Children's safety in the home.
We were successful in applying for a small grant enabling some of the families we support to receive free safety equipment. This has already made an enormous difference to the safety of children. Parents are also able to relax without worrying about some potential dangers within their home. Grant funded via Cymorth-thank you.
We are also working closely with the fire brigade- they will conduct a fire safety check of your home plus provide smoke detectors and fire guards if needed.
Home-Start (BGR) goes live!
Our thanks also go to Geraint and his team at nawrmedia - a local media company who developed and designed a website for us.
Take a look for more information and news about our work www.homestartsouthcardiff.co.uk
Other news
Claire and Monica attended an advocacy day at the Assembly .The event went very well with lots of interest in our work.
Claire continues to be part of the Family Support Strategy group for Cardiff. Ask Claire for details or contact Family Support Strategy Development Officer Jayne Isaac - Llanedeyrn Family Centre tel 02920541401 e-mail jisaac@cardiff.org.uk
Our thoughts are with Chris Czekaj our patron who was badly injured whilst representing Wales in rugby. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Future Events
Family and volunteer summer outing.
2 coaches have been booked for our trip to Wookey Hole in July. A great day out for the families we support plus our volunteers.
Annual friend's event.
Planned for the 3rd October at County Hall. This is our opportunity to thank our sponsors, partners and welcome new Friends to the organization.
Donations
In addition to the support already mentioned above we would like to thank:
| Eversheds Solicitors Monetary donation |
The Millennium Stadium Raffle prizes |
nawr Website development |
Barclays Bank, Canton Financial advice |
Algebra Office Equipment
Trade Street Cardiff are delighted to sponsor Winter 2006 Newsletter as part of there corporate responsibility.
029 20550720
Most importantly, we would like to thank all the volunteers who support our families. Without them it would be impossible for the scheme to function.