Hansard

I thank the members who signed my motion congratulating Home-Start Garioch on its 20th anniversary. I am most grateful.

Garioch is an area in Aberdeenshire centred on the town of Inverurie. The area has a lot of young families, many of whom have settled in the area from other airts and pairts. Not everyone has the extended network of family and friends that was more prevalent in earlier decades.

The Home-Start movement was created in 1973 in Leicester when Margaret Harrison decided to set up a small pilot project. Explaining her decision to set up Home-Start Leicester she said:

“When my three children were young, I was involved in voluntary work with parents and children here in Leicester—in children’s homes, with the Family Service Unit, mother and toddler groups and the Child Guidance Clinic. Invariably, parents, many of whom were involved with social workers and other statutory agencies, would ask me to visit them at home ‘so we can really talk’.”

So an idea was born and it was simple: that volunteers go into a family’s home to offer friendly, non-judgemental support that stems from their own experience. It proved to be a great help. It is still the selling point and strength of Home-Start schemes, including the one in the Garioch.

Margaret Harrison died earlier this year but she left a lasting legacy. Her small project in Leicester has grown and now spread to 22 countries. The United Kingdom alone has 288 Home-Start organisations and it is estimated that the movement has helped more than 1 million children globally.

In Garioch alone, it is estimated that Home-Start’s volunteers have helped 993 families with 2,122 children in the organisation’s 20 years. Volunteers have spent an estimated 106,000 hours assisting those families in the long and short term. That is an enormous achievement and shows real enthusiasm for the aims and values of the organisation on the part of its staff and volunteers.

All the staff and volunteers deserve recognition, but I will name four people especially. Sandra Herbert was the first ever chairperson of the organisation in the Garioch. Clare Smith has been a volunteer from the beginning. She is the only remaining volunteer who received her training at the first preparation course ever organised. Angela Gowdy has also been involved for some time. She first became a volunteer in 1996 and has been on the organisation’s board of trustees. Special mention also goes to Valerie Tennant. She is the only original member of staff who is still with Home-Start Garioch.

The Home-Start movement aims to support families with children from their birth to age five. We all agree that the early years matter and that the getting it right for every child approach is the right one. The five years between birth and school are vital for a child’s development. Giving children the best possible start in life is vital; it determines the opportunities and life chances that they have. Children who are raised in a stable and loving environment are more likely to have a positive and healthy future. Every child deserves that.

Some people might ask why Home-Start’s voluntary support is so important when we have midwives, health visitors, general practitioners, nurseries, playgroups and a host of other professionals. The answer is fairly simple: truth to be told, being a parent is not easy, as many of us can testify. It is a role of great importance but there is no training and children do not come with an instruction manual.

Parenting can be overwhelming and, if we add the other pressures that we sometimes face in life—financial difficulties, ill health, isolation and stress—parents can sometimes struggle to cope. A young child who is caught up in that can miss out on the love, routine and stimulation that are vital for their future. People often do not like to ask for help from professionals, and that is where volunteers can step in, offering one-to-one support and building a rapport and trust.

Many new parents lack confidence. Home-Start volunteers help by spending a couple of hours a week with them, providing non-judgmental practical and emotional support and helping to build confidence and family resilience. Volunteers are carefully matched with families, and what help they offer is tailored to the individual family. That help might just involve having someone to talk things through with, or it might be practical help with, for instance, how to plan healthy eating, playing and reading with children or even how to cope with sleepless nights.

Lessons that children learn at an early age will follow them for the rest of their lives. That is the time when children develop their personalities, learn to express themselves and gain self-control—skills that will ensure that they can achieve their full potential.

A United Kingdom Department for Children, Schools and Families study in 2008 suggested that the home learning environment in the early years is the largest factor in attainment and achievement at age 10, bigger even than the effect of pre-school and primary school education. Similarly, the millennium cohort study provided evidence of significant inequalities in development at age three, which can persist throughout life. It is therefore important to support parents in providing a stimulating and supportive home environment. There are plenty of good reasons to value the work that Home-Start does.

Home-Start Garioch tells me that it plans to be around for another 20 years at least. It is making plans to improve the services that it offers to parents and to grow further. In co-operation with other Home-Start organisations in Aberdeenshire, it has secured core funding until June 2017 from the local authority. Home-Start Garioch is expanding its expertise, with two of its 50 volunteers now trained to deliver the mellow bumps training programme, which will focus on vulnerable expectant mums. It also plans to offer drop-in support or play sessions during the school holidays.

Finally, Home-Start Garioch is equipping itself to offer triple P, the positive parenting programme, which is designed to prevent, as well as treat, behavioural and emotional problems in children. It aims to equip parents with the skills and confidence that they need to be self-sufficient and to manage family issues without on-going support.

I hope that all members will join me in congratulating Home-Start Garioch on its vision. I thank the staff and volunteers at Home-Start Garioch, as well as those at other Home-Start organisations, for the support that they provide to so many families and children. Their expertise is invaluable and their work is crucial.