Volunteering with Home-Start Stirling

Volunteering with us is exciting, rewarding work

It requires energy, commitment, reliability, creativity - and a sense of humour!

There are two main capacities in which you can volunteer with us: as a Home-Visiting Volunteer or to be part of our Management Board.

Home-visiting

Home-Start home-visiting volunteers need to be parents themselves. We need people from all ages, backgrounds and genders! No qualifications are necessary - just listening skills, understanding, discretion, commitment to the families you visit and a willingness to share your parenting experience.

We ask our home-visiting volunteers to commit to three or four hours per week to visit a family. These visits are arranged for a mutually convenient time Monday to Friday - or weekends if both parties would prefer.

Vetting

We often work with very vulnerable families. It is therefore essential that all volunteers within our scheme are thoroughly vetted. We ask all potential volunteers to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure

Enhanced Disclosure contains all conviction information, spent and unspent, and any other non conviction information considered to be relevant by the police or other Government bodies. - a full criminal records check - as well as giving two personal references and a GP statement.

All potential home-visiting volunteers must undertake a Preparation Course (approximately 40 hours) usually run during school hours, but sometimes in the evening.

Expenses

Volunteers are fully re-imbursed for all out of pocket expenses incurred whilst on Home-Start business. Childcare costs are also available if required for the initial preparation course as well as on-going training.

On-going Support

Home-Start volunteers work with and alongside a family - parent to parent. 'Being with' not 'doing to'. Once a volunteer is matched with a family, the coordinator will keep in close contact - initially by telephone after the first couple of visits to the family, and then with regular one-to-one support sessions, so that if there are any difficulties or problems, they are picked up straight away. No home-visiting volunteer is ever given a family and just left to get on with it. There is always regular contact with the coordinator, and a list of people to contact in an emergency.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What happens if I'm asked to support a family I don't get on with?
• The matching process is done very carefully; this simply shouldn't happen.
• Will I be left on my own once I'm matched with a family?
• No! The coordinator will speak to you after your first visit alone to make sure everything went on OK. You will decide together how often you want telephone contact. You will meet with the coordinator every 4- 6 weeks for a support session.
• What if I start and then realise it's not for me?
• The preparation course is designed to give you a 'taste' of what it's like to work with us. It will help you to decide whether Home-Start is for you or not. There is no pressure on you to complete the course if you feel it's not what you're looking for. At the end of the course there is a final interview where you'll have the opportunity to discuss fully any anxieties you have
• What if the family needed me at a time I couldn't manage?
• You tell us when you are available. This is taken into account when matching you with a suitable family. Your availability will be made clear to the family from the start.

For further information, read our Volunteer's Leaflet.