Getting Support

Many parents need help, friendship, advice or support during those early years. There is no rulebook for raising a family and sometimes it can seem overwhelming, particularly if your family is going through difficult times.

As a parent you might ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:

• You may be in need of a break
• You may be feeling isolated in your community, have no family nearby and be struggling to make friends
• You may be finding it hard to cope because of your own or your child's illness
• You may have been hit hard by the death of a loved one
• You may be really struggling with emotional and physical demands of having twins or triplets - perhaps born into an already large family

Help is at hand. We will endeavour to support all families who ask for help where possible and where a support plan is agreed. Support is confidential. All staff and volunteers are required to be members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme (PVG).

How to make a referral

Please contact us in the first instance to ensure there is a volunteer available, then download and complete our referral form and send it to: manager@homestartlorn.org.uk for for all referrals.

Are you unsure about the families Home-Start can support? You may be interested in looking at our booklet “A Referrer's Guide” to the UK's leading family support service.

Home-Start Lorn will accept a referral from any source as long as:

• the family has at least one child under the age of five
• the family is suffering stress or experiencing difficulties. See Who we can help
• the family have given their consent

Home-Start Lorn works alongside other agencies from both the statutory and voluntary sector, and receives referrals from:

• Health Visitors
• Social Services
• Education
• Nurseries/family centres
• Community Psychiatric Nurses
• Other voluntary organisations, e.g. Soroba Young Family Centre, Women’s Aid.
• Argyll well-being hub
• Hope Kitchen
• Families are also able to refer themselves

What happens next?

Once a family has been referred and a referral form has been completed, the co-ordinator will arrange to visit the family to discuss their needs and answer any questions they may have. The co-ordinator will then work with the family to create a support plan to best meet the family's needs and identify which of our three support options will be introduced to meet these needs.