Aim

To provide families impacted by Covid-19 with vital support in financial and mental wellbeing across Norfolk.

Have you been impacted by Covid-19? Have you had to make difficult financial decisions due to the pandemic? Has isolation meant your mental health has suffered? Have you had to reduce your work hours or look for a new job? Covid-19 has impacted so many people in so many different ways, Isolation, financially, mentally and physically. Home-Start Norfolk is here to help struggling families across Norfolk with the aftermath of Covid-19, whether you need help getting your finances back in order or just need support and someone to talk to, we aim to provide catered support to our families and help them get through this difficult time together.

“I would not have been able to have got through lockdown without the support from Home-Start Norfolk”

Here at Home-Start Norfolk we work with countless families across the county with at least 1 child aged 0-5. We offer specialised support in many areas such as mental and financial wellbeing, healthy eating, isolation and school readiness to name a few, aiming to ensure that children get the best start in life. Our highly trained Family Support Coordinators assess each family’s needs and match them with one of our trained volunteers, where they visit at least once a week to provide all kinds of support and advice.

“Sandra to us is a lifeline, the children love seeing her every time she visits. It’s great to have someone to ask any question to and to just generally have a comforting and kind supporting lady”

Financial and Mental wellbeing have been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020 almost 725,000 (Bank of England) people lost their jobs in the UK, as a result of many companies going bankrupt or having to make cuts in spending. Whilst we as a country are slowly recovering, many people have been left redundant or struggling to cope with the increase in living costs. More than two-Thirds of adults in the UK reported feeling worried about the impact of Covid-19 was having on their life, causing mental health issues to worsen by 8.1%, hitting women and young adults the hardest (The Health Foundation, 2020). This is where Home-Start Norfolk needs your help to raise funds to reach more families that need our help as a result of the impacts of Covid-19. The demand for Home-Start Norfolk’s support has rapidly increased since the pandemic hit, whilst already reaching 250 families in the last year, referrals have also gone up 70%. To name a few of the costs that are required to keep our support going, it is £50 for a Family Support Coordinator to assess a family’s needs and match them with a volunteer and £20 for each volunteer visit to their family. We need extra funding to help us expand our services across Norfolk and be able to access the ever increasing families that need our support.

“We can’t express how much you have helped us through some very difficult times that we thought we would not get through, but your support has made that happen thank you again for all your help.’’

We want to give our families a helping hand and get them back on their feet #BecauseChildhoodCan’tWait

For more information please visit https://homestartnorfolk.org/ or email [email protected] we would love to hear from you!

This project successfully funded on 12th April 2022