Giving every child a
happy start in life
ABOUT What’s Home-Start
We know that sometimes families need a
little help to get their children off to a good start, so we match experienced volunteers
with families with young children, to offer
help and support. Home-Start is a simple
‘Parents support parents’ system.
Home-Start helps families with young
children (0-6 years old). We support
parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and to build their own networks
of friends and other support making the
better lives for their children.
Our
volunteers visit the family’s home for a
couple of hours every week.
Home-Start was established in Leicester,
UK in 1973 and now operated in 22
countries. Home-Start Japan is affiliated by Home-Start Worldwide and now has more
than 80 local schemes all over Japan.
Through our national networking, we
promote our family support and improve our quality of service.
Home-Start Japan established in 2006 and registered as charity in 2009.
We support local schemes to start and deliver the high quality service
providing various consulting and training throughout national networking.
Home-Start aims to increase the confidence and independence of the family by
- Offering support, friendship and practical assistance
- Visiting families in their own homes, where the dignity and identity of each adult and child can be respected and protected
- Reassuring parents that difficulties in bringing up children are not unusual and encouraging them to enjoy family life
- Developing a relationship with the family in which time can be shared and understanding can be developed: the approach is flexible to take account of different needs
- Encouraging parents’ strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their children
- Encouraging families to widen their network of relationships and to use effectively the support and services available within the community
Vision
Home-Start wants to see a society in which every parent has the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life.
Mission
Home-Start believes that children need a happy and secure childhood and that parents play the key role in giving their children a good start in life
and helping them achieve their full potential.
Home-Start offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children, in local communities throughout Japan. Home-Start offers a unique service, recruiting and training volunteers - who are usually
parents themselves - to visit families at home who have at least one child under 6 to offer informal, friendly and confidential support.
To help give children the best possible start in life, Home-Start supports parents as they grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with
their children and widen their links with the local community.
Support us
Donate
Donation and fundraising made to Home-Start Japan are vital
to enable us to achieve our aims, in particular
- Ensuring the highest possible quality of service is offered to families, consistently, across Japan.
- Responding to demands from families and communities by developing new and existing local Home-Starts.
- Offering training, support and guidance to staff and volunteer trustees.
Your generosity will help us reach out to parents and children who urgently need Home-Start support.
https://congrant.com/project/hsj/7272
We need volunteers who support our fundraising by producing charity events. By raising funds for Home-Start Japan’s vital work you will help us to reach thousands of struggling families and give their children the best possible start in life.
Volunteer
Volunteer in Home-Start
Home-Start believes that children need a happy and secure childhood and that parents play the key role in giving their children a good start in life and helping them achieve their full potential.
Through our ‘Parents support Parents’ system, we offer support, friendship and practical assistance visiting families in their own homes.
There are many opportunities for volunteering within Home-Start,
working directly with families or supporting those who do.
The kind of families we support
We support any family that is struggling to cope, where here is at least one child under six.
Families may need support due to
- Isolation
- Illness or injury
- Disability or mental health issues
- Relationship problems
- Multiple births
- Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted or unhappy
- Poverty or financial difficulties
How Volunteers can help
Volunteers visits family in their home, usually once a week, for a couple of hours, during 2 or 3 months and HS Organizer initially coordinate how you support family and give you full support when you need.
- Help getting to appointments
- Establishing routines
- Using local services or specialist support
- Encouraging play and reading with their children
- Listening to the family’s worries or concerns
- Getting the family involved with the local community
- Sharing your own experiences of parenting and family life
- Being there because you want to – not because someone has ‘sent’ you
- Providing support, friendship and encouragement
※Not baby-sittering nor house keeping
To join as home-visiting volunteers
Volunteers do not need any formal qualifications to support a family. You are fully trained and supported for as long you are helping a family．
※The course will be held once a year normally in each local city. Please contact with a local scheme in your town.
https://www.homestartjapan.org/local/
- Be a parent or have parenting experience
- Attend our free volunteer preparation course with other new volunteers. This is normally 37 hours’ training over 7 weeks and presented in Japanese.
- Be able to visit a family at home, once a week, for around two hours, to support them
- Have a non-judgemental attitude and understand about the pressure of bringing up a family