Help us keep families connected

The Coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented and widespread effect on our service and all our face-to-face programmes have stopped. It is clear that the pandemic is placing an even deeper burden on the vulnerable families we support, including those already isolated, facing financial hardship and mental health challenges.

Many parents are struggling to get basic essentials, such as nappies or food for children. Mothers and fathers with new babies are isolated at home with no one to help them through the first uncertain weeks. Families who receive mental health support are unable to access their usual services and many are turning to Home Start Haringey Hackney & Waltham Forest  for help.

How you can help
 
Home Start Haringey Hackney & Waltham Forest is working around the clock to adapt its service and meet the needs of our local families in the wake of this crisis. We are continuing to support families remotely when our volunteers cannot visit them in person. We have also been working with community partners to ensure families get vital food, baby goods and other supplies delivered to them during the outbreak.

Looking at how we can support families in the next phase of this pandemic, we are creating a blend of online and face-to-face programmes. This will help many families in need in a safe way, which complies with government guidelines on social distancing.

Right now we need your help with funding our work...

Home-Start is seeking to fund a BAME  (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) Family Coordinator. This is especially important in the current climate where we are seeing BAME communities being disproportionately affected by coronavirus and because of the high proportion of BAME families in the boroughs that we cover. Our Family Coordinator will manage a team of volunteers who will work with families in a variety of ways such as:

Ø  having someone to interact with socially and talk to on a consistent basis to reduce feelings of isolation, which have increased during lockdown

Ø  encouraging and facilitating access to appropriate healthcare, such as GP appointments or NHS 111 services

Ø  helping improve a family’s emotional and psychological well-being by being a trusted confidant in cases of mental health struggles or domestic violence;

Ø  helping a family with planning and budgeting, where they have been economically and financially hit because of the pandemic.

We are experts in supporting families in crisis. Our volunteers can help to ease serious burdens, build confidence and eradicate isolation for local families.

We can’t do this vital work alone. We, and the families we support, desperately need your help.

Please make a donation today.

£5 = Pays for one volunteer visit to a BAME family’s home (we will commence these visits once it is safe to do so).

£20 = Pays for a month’s zoom call license for a volunteer to regularly check in with a family without worrying about a time limit. Giving families time and attention is key to helping build confidence, ensuring we can get to the heart of issues they are facing.

£50 = Pays for one volunteer’s training. This is a 10-week intensive training course to enable volunteers to respond effectively to the needs of our families.

 
Sadly without your help now, we will not be able to provide this service. Every donation has a huge impact.  


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