We support families in Reading with at least one child under five, helping them get through difficult times and thrive.
Many of the families we work with are dealing with a complex mix of challenges. These may include physical or mental health problems, disability, learning difficulties, bereavement, domestic abuse, relationship breakdowns and multiple births.
A child’s early years lay the foundations for their future. Our support helps parents develop the confidence, capabilities and connections they need to give their children the best possible start in life.
Why do we need your help?
All the issues families are facing are compounded by the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
Child poverty in Reading has been steadily increasing since 2015. Government figures from 2022 showed that 17.1% of children under 16 in Reading were part of a low-income family, compared to 15.1% elsewhere in the South-East. But even comparatively affluent families are feeling the impact.
We’re grateful to Reading Borough Council for providing our small office in Southcote rent free, however we don’t receive any statutory funding.
We depend on fundraising to gather our essential running costs (currently £120k). The competition for grant funding has increased over the last three years, so we are looking more to the generosity of corporate and individual donors to help us deliver our family support services and cover our core costs.
The value we provide
We spend over 90% of our income on direct charitable activities, delivered by our small team of five part-time staff (equivalent to 2.89 full time). This includes courses, which help parents at an early stage, so they are better able to cope, and additional services that help families flourish.
Our core Home Visiting service is carried out by volunteers, but they need to be trained and supervised by experienced co-ordinators with a background in early years and family support.
Our services deliver lasting social benefit to the community, helping families get onto a positive track early on, avoiding the need for costly statutory interventions later. The benefits of this approach are well established.
We believe we provide excellent value for money, supporting a family in their own home every week for a year for around £1,500.
How we help families
Our services deliver tangible benefits and have a lasting impact, enabling families to move forward positively to better times.
Our core services are:
Home Visiting
We match families with a trained volunteer, who will provide emotional and practical support, visiting them in their own home for two to three hours each week. Typically we aim for support to be in place for between six months and a year, by which time families are usually able to move forward more united, happier and more resilient.
We’re the only charity in Reading that provides families with support in their own homes.
Mums in Mind
This innovative six-week postnatal mental health course brings together mums experiencing depression, anxiety or low mood in a safe group setting. Run by experienced members of staff, they give participants the tools they need to build up their confidence and self-esteem as well as helping them develop their own support network.
A creche run by trained volunteers frees the participants to relax and focus on themselves and informal follow-up sessions help to cement the bonds developed during the course.
Journey to Parenthood
Our prenatal parenting course helps to build confidence and knowledge to smooth the parenting journey. The sessions, for mums, dads and support partners, provide welcome opportunities to ask questions in a low-pressure environment and reassurance that other people are having similar worries, helping to relieve anxiety.
We also work in conjunction with other local organisations to provide additional support to make families’ lives easier and help them create precious memories. These include trips to watch pantomimes, circus performances and football matches and farm and seaside outings as well as presents at Christmas time.
Each year we support up to 100 families, helping parents give their children the start in life they deserve.
Find out more about our impact
"You've always kept in touch and helped me through all my really hard times. You've always been there for me. You have made me stronger by looking out for me rather than trying to put me down or judge me."
The difference your money could make
- £1,500 would enable us to provide a family with a Home Visiting volunteer for a year.
- £5,000 would pay for a volunteer preparation, Mums in Mind or Journey to Parenthood course
- £10,000 would pay for the training and ongoing support of ten volunteers for a year
- £75,000 would enable us to provide 50 families with Home Visiting support for a year.
How can you help?
Figures from Benefact Group showed that charitable giving more than halved between 2021 and 2022, and the vast majority of charitable giving goes to big national and international charities. By supporting a small local charity like ours you can make a much bigger difference.
Here are a few of the ways you could help:
- Take part in our 40 for 40 campaign
- Choose us as your charity partner
- Make a one-off donation to support a project or help us cover running costs
- Raise funds for us through an event or activity, like a ball, silent auction, pyjama day or bake sale
- Encourage your staff to raise funds for us, for example by running Reading Half Marathon or doing a personal challenge like a sky dive
- Offer match-funding
- Provide or sponsor venue hire for meetings or courses
In return we’ll gladly let you know the impact your help has made and we’ll share our gratitude on our social channels and website.
If you think your business might be able to help, we’d love to hear from you. Please email office@home-start-reading.org.uk or give the team a call on 0118 956 0050.
