Home-Start Norfolk is one of Soroptimist International of King’s Lynn charities of the year for 2025, thanks to the passionate advocacy of returning member, Bea Knights.
Bea is the King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Family Services Coordinator, and she presented to the June meeting with two of her 16 volunteers, Rita and Sarah.
Home-Start supports struggling families with children up to 5 years old with home visits, telephone support, referrals and signposting to other services.
The families Home-Start supports often have complex needs and circumstances. The children might have special educational needs and disabilities. Parents might be experiencing poor mental health due to suffering from domestic abuse, previous substance misuse, general mental illness and post-natal depression.
There are many military families in the area, with a lack of wider family support from their own parents and friends.
The biggest issue is rural isolation. Local support groups and community centres for families and little ones have sadly dwindled.
Volunteer Rita, a teacher of 25 years, is using her personal experience of struggling as a new mum, to help others. She undertook the six-week Home Start training and has supported 20 families so far.
She is currently supporting a mum with postnatal depression who is scared about going to toddler groups with her children. Rita gives her the confidence to go for a walk with the buggy, meeting and interacting with neighbours and the local community. She emphasised how the family situation may be complicated, but the intervention can be simple – showing the parent how to read, play and interact with their children.
Volunteer Sarah is an early years trained teacher, passionate about Home Start’s motto that “childhood can’t wait “.
She acknowledged how parenting is hard for families and parents are facing isolation, domestic violence, addiction or health problems and how important it is that the service is independent and non-judgemental. There’s no need for mums and dads to pretend to be a “perfect parent”. Sarah will get an entire life story just by being there and willing to listen.
There is strong safeguarding in Home Start and Bea is at the end of the phone for any issues, but often families just need reassurance they are doing the right thing, that their children know they are loved, and a bit of support around what’s appropriate for what age – the sort of advice the extended family or community used to give.
Rita and Sarah remarked how Home-Start Norfolk achieves amazing results on a shoestring – including our Bea somehow fitting what sounds like more than a full-time and very important job into 20 hours a week.
Home Start Norfolk is part of a UK-wide charity but it needs to fundraise to sustain its vital service for our community. Bea’s passion for the difference they can make shone through and convinced us all that making a difference early in life makes a difference later in life, helping to keep families together. We all felt inspired to support them with raising funds and awareness over the coming year.
Home Start Norfolk received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2024 – note the heavy glass trophy on the table – find out more, donate and volunteer at https://homestartnorfolk.org/