Home-Start Royston, Buntingford and South Cambridgeshire

We want to see a society in which every local parent has the support needed to give their children the best possible start in life. To reduce the pressure on families that leads to stress and poor mental health which affects all aspects of parenting and family life
To reduce parental isolation by facilitating involvement in local groups and services
To improve outcomes for children, in terms of physical, social and emotional development
To reduce the risk of family crisis that can lead to breakdown
To enable parents to develop the confidence, knowledge and skills to manage their family lives again without our support, and to access mainstream support and local community networks
To reduce the need for other more costly support from statutory agencies
Our Values
We offer families choice
We work in partnership – with each other, with families and with other agencies
We work in a spirit of openness, encouragement and enjoyment
We are flexible and responsive to the needs of families.

Home-Start Royston, Buntingford and South Cambridgeshire is a voluntary organisation that offers support and practical help to families in Royston, Buntingford and the surrounding villages. We support families with a home visiting service and also run weekly term time Family Support Groups in Royston, Buntingford and South Cambridgeshire. Our volunteers, who all have parenting, caregiving or childcare experience, are recruited, trained and then carefully matched with a family, who they usually visit for 2-3 hours a week in the family’s home or volunteers support with the running of our family support groups. Volunteers build a relationship with parents and offer many different kinds of support, depending upon what the family wants. They may provide a listening ear; encourage playing and creative activities with children; accompany families on outings or appointments; support the development of parenting skills including managing behaviour and signpost to other help available. Volunteers have all completed an enhanced DBS check and are supported through regular one-to-one supervision by co-ordinators. They all have agreed to work within Home-Start’s Code of Conduct for Safeguarding and Promoting the Welfare of Children and receive regular one-one supervision and support from their coordinator as well as ongoing training and peer support.