CHILDREN could be given a better start in life with help from a new charity. But £55,000 is needed for UK organisation Home-Start to set up a scheme in Guernsey.

It aims to help families with children under five to prevent future intervention from government child support agencies.

Home-Start’s south-west regional consultant Julie Phillips was in Guernsey last week to introduce the charity and speak to health and childcare professionals about supporting a local scheme.

‘It went extremely well,’ she said.

‘We had a lot of key professionals with a really good mix from different agencies with varied interests and there were some really great questions about issues relevant to the island.’

The charity was launched in 1973 and has 339 schemes across the UK and internationally.

‘It’s a very simple idea – we offer parent-to-parent support in the family home either through practical or emotional help,’ said Mrs Phillips, who has worked for the charity for 10 years.

‘It is very much about being invited into the home by the family, either through referral by an agency or self-referral by the family.’

All volunteers attend a preparation course of 40 hours and must all have children. Volunteers go into the family’s home for two to four hours each week in circumstances where the mother has post-natal depression, there are four or five children under five years, the partner is violent, or the family has debt or housing problems – all situations where the family may feel isolated.

Mrs Phillips, a parent herself, said agencies in Guernsey had identified a gap in supporting families in such circumstances.

‘Volunteers help the family for as long as they need.

‘Ultimately, the purpose of each volunteer’s role is to make themselves redundant so the family no longer needs their help.’

The family and volunteer are reviewed every three months.

‘It may be that the form of support needs to change as the volunteer has been able to introduce the family to community activities and feels less isolated or that the needs of the family have changed.

‘It could and should also lead to a stronger community.

‘Families gain self confidence and their children have happier, securer starts in life. A local scheme could help as many as 50 families in one year.