Aim

Helping young Hampshire families build brighter futures through financial resilience, shared learning, open conversations and support.

Brighter Futures for Young Families in Hampshire

Home-Start Hampshire operates across eight local authority areas, including some of the most deprived communities in England, such as Havant, Rushmoor, Gosport, and parts of the New Forest. 

Neighbourhoods in parts of Gosport and Havant have long been recognised among the most disadvantaged nationally, and in 2026 families in these areas continue to face inequalities, limited opportunities for children to achieve brighter futures. In the New Forest, the seasonal nature of the tourism industry and rural isolation adds to the already challenging circumstances many families are facing.

Despite national efforts to improve outcomes, the reality for many families has not significantly improved. The rising cost of living, insecure employment, and ongoing housing pressures mean that for many, financial stability remains out of reach. For most families we support, circumstances have become increasingly complex and precarious.

Today, around 80% of the families we work with are struggling with sustained financial pressure. Many are living in temporary or unsuitable accommodation, unable to access affordable housing, and managing rising costs of food, energy, and childcare. These financial challenges are not experienced in isolation - they have a profound impact on parental mental health, family relationships, and children’s wellbeing, shaping their chances of a brighter future.

At Home-Start Hampshire, we see first-hand how family finances shape every aspect of early childhood. Financial insecurity can lead to stress, anxiety, and isolation, making it harder for parents to provide the stable, nurturing environments children need. The early years of a child’s life are critical, and family circumstances, from income and housing to mental health and social support, play a defining role in shaping outcomes for the future.

We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive. The most effective way to achieve this is by empowering parents - strengthening their confidence, resilience, and ability to manage the financial and emotional pressures they face.

Increasing Demand for Trusted Support

As a well-established and trusted charity embedded within local communities, Home-Start Hampshire is seeing growing demand for its services. Professionals continue to refer families to us, recognising the vital role we play in providing consistent, compassionate, and practical support and more families are reaching out directly, with complex and overlapping needs.

Our reputation for delivering non-judgemental, relationship-based support means that families feel able to ask for help, often after struggling alone. However, this growing need places increasing pressure on our services, as we strive to reach every family who could benefit from our support.

Supporting Families in Their Homes

Our trained volunteers, many of whom are parents themselves, provide weekly home visits tailored to each family’s circumstances. Through practical and emotional support, they empower parents to take control of their financial situation and build stability. This includes helping families to:

• Open and manage bills and correspondence
• Develop realistic household budgets
• Access food banks and essential supplies
• Navigate housing challenges and apply for support
• Connect with debt advice and financial guidance services

These small but powerful interventions help families regain a sense of control and possibility.

For families experiencing housing instability, our volunteers offer consistent support during periods of uncertainty - helping parents manage frequent moves, maintain routines for their children, and access the right services.

In the New Forest, we recently supported a family with two young children who were facing eviction. The unknown next step on where they might be relocated to was intensifying mum's existing mental health issues and putting pressure on the parental relationship.

We matched a trained home-visiting volunteer with the family to provide emotional and practical support, visiting them weekly for 2-3 hours per visit. The volunteer was based locally with good knowledge of the area and an awareness of other services and resources to signpost the family to, as well as understanding the limitations with logistics, such as limited public transport.

The main focus of our support was: emotional support for mum, helping the family with day-to-day household tasks, getting ready to pack for moving and helping the family maintain routines while alternative housing was secured.

A crucial part of our home-visiting match, was a volunteer who was able to ‘move’ with the family to provide continuity to their support. The emotional support for mum became the main focus in our support for the family, especially as they were moved to emergency and then temporary housing after their eviction. Our support helped the family to maintain a consistent routine for both the children during this time and gave mum time to pack and spend time with the children.

During our support mum continued to access support for her mental and physical health and with encouragement and help from our volunteer, was able to establish payment plans and financial support to ensure a more stable financial outcome for the family.

Our support came to a natural, positive end for the family when they were allocated new housing back in the area which they had lived previously. Mum found living back near to her support network of great comfort.

The family were able to re-establish routines; and felt confident settling in their new home. Mum said, ‘[my volunteer] has been amazing. The children both took to her very well. She will be missed.’ Mum said of her Home-Start experience, ‘How nice everyone is. It made opening up about my issues much easier.’ Home-Start was, ‘just amazing, thank you.’

Supporting Families in the Community

Alongside home visiting, we run several family support groups across Hampshire. These welcoming, community-based sessions provide:

• Practical guidance on managing household finances
• Opportunities to build peer support networks and reduce isolation
• Connections to local services and resources
• Safe, supportive spaces for parents and children to grow and learn together

For many families, these groups provide structure, confidence, and a sense of belonging. They are also an ideal opportunity to introduce families to other services and resources in their local community. For example, we have worked with Hampshire Adult Education to run a series of ‘cooking on a budget’ sessions at our groups, which enabled families to explore new recipes and provided them with some kit to help them carry their new skills forward. In fact, for weeks to come the families attending our groups were sharing recipes and ideas on what they had cooked and what they were going to try next.

Our Impact on Financial Wellbeing

Our work is focused on empowering families with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to improve their financial wellbeing and overall quality of life. Through personalised support plans, families make measurable progress in areas such as:

• Budgeting and debt management
• Accessing financial and housing support
• Improving emotional wellbeing and resilience
• Strengthening family relationships and routines
• Building connections within their community

Parents consistently report increased confidence in managing their finances and planning for the future, laying the foundations for brighter futures for their children.

Together, We Can Create Brighter Futures for More Children

Demand for Home-Start Hampshire’s support continues to grow as more families face financial hardship and instability. With your help, we can reach more families at the right time, before challenges escalate, and ensure more children grow up in safe, secure, and nurturing environments.

• £1,300 provides a family with 6–9 months of one-to-one home visiting support
• £285 supports a family through a 12-week group programme
• £50 helps train and support volunteers working directly with families
• £25 contributes to volunteer travel costs for home visits
• £14 covers a DBS check for a new volunteer
• £5 provides refreshments and healthy snacks at a family support group

By supporting Home-Start Hampshire, you are empowering families to take control of their finances, strengthen relationships, and build brighter, more resilient futures for their children and communities.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 17th September 2026 at 4:43pm