Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am a volunteer with Homestart North East Edinburgh and Leith and am thrilled to run for this wonderful organisation.

Many parents need help, friendship, advice or support during those early years when children are young.

There is no rulebook for raising a family and sometimes it can seem overwhelmiing, particularly if your family is going through difficult times. But if you can get the support you need when you need it, then day-to-day family life and your children's future can be so much brighter.

Homestart support is free, confidential and non-judgemental. In fact, almost 25% of families refer themselves to Home-Start - which speaks for itself.

Homestart help to increase the confidence and independence of families by:

• Visiting families in their own homes to offer support, friendship and practical assistance
• Reassuring parents that their childcare problems are not unusual or unique
• Encouraging parents' strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their children
• Trying to get the fun back into family life

Volunteers, who have parenting experience themselves, can offer:

• Precious time for listening and talking
• Help with the children
• A break for parents
• Practical help and reassurance
• A chance to meet other parents in similar situations
• Support to use local services and resources

Parents ask for Home-Start's help for all sorts of reasons:

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

 

As a volunteer and a runner I thank you so much for supporting me on my challenge and most importantly helping to support a charity whose work is so vital, both locally and nationally.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.