Home-Start South Leicestershire

Who we are

We help to ensure, through a holistic family approach, that children living in the Harborough District stay safe, thrive, develop and learn through the range of services we offer families with young children. Our particular focus is with families who are experiencing difficulties and disadvantages.

Our service will continue to be built around two key themes:

·         Families in Mind – Supporting families where parental mental health is a particular concern, including Stress, Anxiety, Depression and Post Natal Illness, to aid the positive development of children’s emotional health and wellbeing.

·         Family Know-How Theme – Supporting families with complex needs who need support to understand and develop healthy family lifestyles & routines, and how to maintain positive emotional environments, which ensure their children have the best opportunities to thrive physically and emotionally.

Under these two themes we create projects to meet specific needs identified. Our Projects for 2026-27 are:

·         Family Post Natal Mental Wellbeing Project – Specific support to families, with at least one child under 5 years, affected by Post Natal Illness.

·         Family Know How Project – Support to families with at least one child under 5 years to develop and maintain healthy family lifestyles and reduce family stress.

·         Play-Full Families Project – providing a therapeutic play-based response to help family relationships develop and/or recover from difficult circumstances with children aged 5 to 11 years.

Delivery of these projects will be supported by one or more of our well established “tools”.

One to one support from a Coordinator – including initial assessments, reviews and ending assessments, and help to find the right service within Home-Start South Leicestershire or elsewhere, including referrals to external organisations such as the LCC Family Help Service and Children’s Social Care, and ongoing partnership work with them to support families.

Peer Mentor Volunteer support - on a weekly basis for 2 to 3 hours, in the family home, in the community, or within our groups & courses – helping with practical tasks, offering emotional support, and modelling strategies to manage family lives to help parents to improve confidence, self-esteem and resilience, and manage mental health difficulties.

Group Support – offering a safe and supportive space for children to play and learn, for parents to gain support from other parents in similar circumstances, as well as from staff and volunteers, learning new skills and techniques to help with their relationship with their child, improve their family lifestyle, and manage their mental health.

Courses for parents – developing parenting knowledge, skills and practice in key areas related to their needs. A Creche is provided for pre-school children.

Our culture and values

We firmly believe that Home-Start South Leicestershire is essentially about ONE PARENT HELPING ANOTHER because every parent should have the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life.

·         We recognise that the quality of experiences in the early years of a child’s life are the foundation for later life. It is a period of opportunity where a little help can make a big difference.

·         We want every child to have the best start in life so that they are able to develop to their full potential.

·         We want parents to feel supported so that they can provide the best start in life for their children.

·         We want our help to be offered in a manner which is acceptable to families, and has the best chance of effecting long-term positive change.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Home-Start South Leicestershire is here to support all families with young children through their challenging times. To do this, we need to strive to be the most inclusive organisation we can be. Home-Start South Leicestershire want to create an environment where every family, volunteer and staff member, supporter and funder feels welcomed, included and valued.

Home-Start South Leicestershire believe that a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion not only benefits our organisation but supports staff and volunteer wellbeing which has a positive impact on the service we offer. People who feel comfortable to be themselves contribute to building an inclusive culture for families using the service and volunteers.

We are committed to promoting a service based on dignity, trust and respect, and one that is free from discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation.

We aim to attract staff and volunteers from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds and experiences. We will ensure that recruitment and selection of staff is inclusive, transparent and fair.  We aim to recruit a diverse group of volunteers. Home-Start South Leicestershire wants to ensure that the service is attractive and welcoming to the local community and that families with different needs and backgrounds have a good experience of the services.