Twitter in our quest for more volunteers. We continued to liaise closely with Children's. Centres ... sometimes scooter.
Home-Start Bristol Annual Review 2014/15 Our mission is to improve the lives of disadvantaged parents and children living in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, helping to give children the best possible start in life. Our interventions are effective because they take place in the formative early years of children’s lives and offer a whole family approach. This year has seen the start of several new Initiatives, some of which are described in more detail in this Review. Our appointment of an Early Intervention Worker has enabled us to make a rapid and direct response to families in, or on the point of, crisis. We initiated a new process to evaluate the effectiveness of the Scheme, making home visits to a randomly selected 50% of families whose support has ended, to talk to them about their experience with Home-Start. It has been really great to hear comments such as “it’s so easy to chat to her. She is a real friend to me”. We embarked on a trial use of Facebook and Twitter in our quest for more volunteers. We continued to liaise closely with Children’s Centres and are very pleased that Children’s Centre Manager at Little Hayes Children’s Centre has become an Adviser to our Board. We are immensely grateful to our existing volunteers and to all our staff who support them so well. Thanks are also due to our very successful fund-writing group and, of course, to our funders for helping us to support our Home-Start families. To end on a very positive note, our 2014 Quality Assurance Review score, carried out by Home-Start UK, was upgraded from 96% to 99%. Sue Otty (Chair)
We are very grateful to our team of trained volunteers who are the lifeblood of the scheme - without them Home-Start Bristol would not exist. During this year our volunteers, who are all parents, and perhaps grandparents, provided support and friendship to 123 families. Families regularly tell us what a difference these visits make to their lives. We welcomed 29 new volunteers and were delighted to welcome back 3 ‘ex’ volunteers. 15 volunteers, a record number, passed their accreditation. The demand for our service remains high 222 referrals in this year. Therefore the work to attract new volunteers and maintain adequate numbers is ongoing as volunteers move on into employment or further education, or leave us to enjoy retirement. Beverley Symonds (Scheme Manager)
Celebrating Renee’s 20 years as a Home-Start volunteer and wishing her well in her move to London to be closer to family.
FAMILIES: We supported 123 families. ‘Sue, our volunteer, is our helper and our friend. My daughter and I look forward to her visit on a Tuesday morning as she just brightens up our day. My condition is very rare and it can be unpredictable as to how I am going to feel from one day to the next. I struggle being able to take my 2 year old daughter out and about because of my walking aids and sometimes scooter. Me and my daughter have such a lovely relationship with Sue who I have been meeting since January - her support and help just makes it a little easier. Sue is my little ray of sunshine - she knows when things are good or bad before even talking to me, normally it’s when me and my daughter are still in our pjs!(pyjamas). She is someone I can sit down with, have a cup of tea and just let all my problems and worries flow out. She is an amazing listening ear. Sue also supports us on outings to the supermarket and to the park. In the house she also helps chores ‘have a little starter’ from putting washing on the airer to loading the dishwasher or running the hoover around.’ Louise (mum) ‘I really look forward to seeing Louise and Felicity each week. Mum has a very rare muscle wasting condition and her daughter Felicity (2) has a pace maker to regulate her heart condition. All in all it makes for a very challenging home life for the family. Mum quite understandably gets very anxious about Felicity and her health and so I do my best to reassure her and listen to her concerns. I also help Louise around the home putting washing away, washing up, tidying etc…I do this with Felicity in tow and we have a lot of fun in the process whilst Louise gets a much needed break. When Louise is feeling well enough we also like to go shopping, to the park, to soft-play and to the local farm always making the time for a coffee and chat too of course!’ Sue (Volunteer)
CHILDREN: We supported 302 children - 192 were under 5. ‘We all look forward to Maxine's weekly visits. The children do puzzles, cuddles and have fun. Milestones have been achieved and we are all much happier having achieved a routine ‘ Rachel (mum) ‘Since I have been with Rachel we have established a bath time and bedtime routine with the children - enabling all to feel much better and less tired. Also we have set some behaviour boundaries which all have benefited from. When the weather is fine we go to the park and practise road awareness on route. Maxine (volunteer)
VOLUNTEERS: Our diverse and skilled volunteer workforce are key to ensuring the success of this unique home-visiting service. 29 new volunteers were recruited this year. This is what they said about their training:
‘A surprising course, as most volunteer positions have extremely limited training - very beneficial, I feel confident to begin volunteering.’ ‘The course helped me further my knowledge in parenthood.’ ‘It was good to study again and gain another qualification.’ ‘ I enjoyed learning new things and enhancing my skills’. ‘I appreciate it because all the things I learned were useful’ I met people I will be staying in touch with’
For 20 years Renee has given special help and friendship to families in and around Bristol as a Home-Start volunteer, visiting them once a week for at least a couple of hours. She retired from her role this year and is moving back to London. ‘My over-arching memory of being with families is the interest and joy from the children impatiently waiting to see 'what's in your bag' and what we'll do together, as well as the welcome from the parent ready to put the kettle on. Then there were the deep and meaningful chats we had while doing some practical chore such as hanging out the washing, turning a mattress, laying lino etc. or just sitting while the little ones played around us.’
CURRENT PROJECTS:
‘Targeting Bristol’s Areas of Deprivation’ is a project which is half funded by the Big Lottery. In this year we supported 70 families. 98% of the families whose support had ended reported that they felt better able to cope as the result of the support of their Home-Start volunteer.
We supported 23 families in South Gloucestershire. The support of 13 families was funded by South Gloucestershire Council. 81% reported that they felt better able to cope by the time support ended.
Our Children in Need project is now half way through its second year. In year 1 we supported 30 children. 83% of these achieved a ‘healthier lifestyle,’ 87% were ‘happier’ and 87% were ‘better prepared for school.’
We began piloting our new early intervention project to provide a rapid response to the needs of families in or on the verge of crisis. This is already proving invaluable.
We began preparing for the launch of our new project ‘Families on the Edge’ in South Gloucestershire, a 5 year project funded by the Big Lottery.
THE STAFF TEAM ‘Team work divides the task and multiplies the success’ Home-Start Bristol benefits enormously from the strength of its staff team. All 6 members have been in post for several years, creating a real sense of stability. We are particularly proud of the way in which they all continue to develop new skills and expertise. Our Scheme Manager, Beverley, has taken on a new role in the last year, devoting additional hours to fundraising – with considerable success. Jill is now a well established expert in leading volunteers through the process of accreditation. Maryon’s training in ‘The Solihull Approach’ has contributed a great deal to the quality of our work with children. Sophia provides particularly effective, sensitive training in ‘Safeguarding’. We are also proud that on the last two occasions when the Scheme has needed new staff, internal candidates have been the ones who shone in the recruitment process. Alex, who was an Administrator for many years, took on the additional role of Coordinator and is now embarking on a City and Guilds Level 3 training course ‘Working with Parents.’ Our current Administrator, Louise, has been breaking new ground for us this year in her additional role as Early Intervention Worker. In very real ways, this is a team which is going from strength to strength.
Annual Accounts INCOME
14/15 £
13/14 £
EXPENDITURE
14/15 £
Big Lottery
34,790
35,725 Payroll and Pension Costs
89,754
78,094
South Gloucestershire Council
15,960
15,460 Staff/volunteer expenses
5,690
5,392
Henry Smith Charitable Trust
9,267
10,136
8,333
Children-in-need
7,709
7,883 Rent, heat and power
9,041
8,367
Lloyds TSB
7,500
4,375 Administration
10,418
9,289
Bristol City Council
5,000
21,300 Office Expenses
3,743
2,566
- Publicity, recruitment and training
13/14 £
Other Restricted Income
20,275
13,435 Depreciation
1,401
1,302
Other grants, fund raising
41,686
27,723 Fund raising, other
3,306
6,932
133,489
120,275
TOTAL INCOME
142,187
125,901 TOTAL EXPENDITURE
We thank all of the statutory bodies, Trusts, Businesses and individuals that have enabled us to achieve our goals this year. Full accounts are available on our web site and via the Charity Commission web site. Trevor Leonard, Treasurer.
The Staff team: Beverley Symonds - Scheme Manager Jill Britten - Coordinator Maryon Shearman - Coordinator Sophia Rowe - Coordinator Alex Wyatt - Coordinator/Administrator Louise Allen - Administrator/Early Intervention Worker
Home-Start Bristol Unit 11, The Greenway Business Centre Doncaster Road, Southmead Bristol, BS10 5PY 0117 9501170 / 9501177
[email protected] www.homestartbristol.org.uk Company no.5745817 Charity no.1116207 Patron: Charlotte Leslie National Patrons: HRH Princess Alexandra
