I was really pleased to receive news this week that Home Start Havering has secured £150 000 from the National Lottery Community Fund for its fantastic Family Outreach Volunteer Service (FOCUS). 

Home-Start Havering is based in Harold Hill and offers free, confidential support to families with children under the age of 5 across the borough, matching volunteers with families that are experiencing difficulties like family break-up, illness or bereavement.

As a mum of a small child, I understand the challenges of raising little ones while keeping everything else going, and I know what tremendous support the Home Start volunteers give young families, especially where parents are dealing with issues like post-natal depression, illness or disability, isolation or multiple birth.

The FOCUS project will support 3 new part-time roles and 50 volunteers recruited to support 180 families with a child under 5 with direct in-home support and peer to peer networks.

The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. During this period, almost £133 million of crucial National Lottery funding has gone to charities and community groups in England as they continue to support their communities through cost-of-living pressures and the prolonged impact of the pandemic.