Annual Report 2022/23 Supporting families in Oxfordshire since 1989
www.homestart-southernoxfordshire.org.uk
About us We work with families who are goingthrough challenging times, and who have a child/children u nder the age of f ive. We recruit and train volunteers to spend time with families, aiming to increase their confidence and i ndependence by: Offering friendship, support, and practical assistance, with a flexible approach to take account of different needs Oeveloping a trusting relationship with the fami ly, to establish an understanding of their ci rcu mstances Reassuri ng parents that d ifficulties in bri nging up children are not unusual, and encouragi ng enjoyment in family life Encouraging parents, strengths, emotional wellbeing and parenting skills, for the ultimate benefit of their children Encouraging families to widen their network of relationships and to effectively use the support and services within the loca I community. We also support families through a paid worker, and two groups, described later in this report. We are lin ked with Home-start UK, a national organisation which sets standards for the way we work, but we are an independent registered charity and responsi ble for ou r own fundraising. ••••••••oooooo
Our year at a glance 77 194 317 families supported by our Home-visiting Volunteers families supported in total children supported in total 94 23 267 families supported by ourgroups families supported by Family Support Worker children under 5 years supported 50 children over 5 years supported Where our 118 referrals came from Self Ref•rr•l. 19 Educatlon. 8 Family Support Servi<e5- 6 Mental Health Services- 7 other- 10 Communlty Oly-6 Olhei He4lth- Mldwlfery Ser¢*$-3 Early Ltam1rbChIrt<1lÉ-I Soclal WorkerlServices- 12 Health Visitor- 41
The Area We Cover Referrals received by district council ward Families supported by distrlct councilward
Chair's Report I would like to begin my report by thanking Cllr Pam Siggers, Mayorof Didcot 2022-2023, and a Home-start Southern Oxfordshire Home-visiting Volunteer for many years. Pam kindly chose us as one of her charities to support during her year of office. In December, we signed the New Home-start UKAgreement after a lengthy consultation process. My sincere thanks to trustees Gill Bodey and Rosemary Knagg for goingthrough the document and accompanying new Home-start Handbook in such detail, and to HSUK for recognising Gill and Rosemary's constructive feedback. Thank you to Rob Hufton, ourtrustee who retired last year. Rob was a very supportive trustee and helped with implementing our IT systems. We wish Rob and his wife Jan a happy retirement. l a m delighted to say that we welcomed two new trustees to our Trustee Board: Caroline Couldrick and Abigail Reynolds. Caroline has recently retired from a lengthy career in social work with children and families, and Abi is a Primary School Teacher. Caroline was able to attend our Volunteer Preparation Course in September and was extremely impressed with the quality of the volunteers and the training they receive. Both Caroline and Abi bring excellent skills and life experience to the role oftrustee and have already made an incredibly positive contribution to the work of HSSO.
Chair's Report l am pleased to say that the Oxfordshire County Council Library Service renewed our lease in March for two years, so it is due to expire in 2025. Asyou will see from our Scheme Manager Linda's report, the need forthe work of Home-start Southern Oxfordshire continues to grow, with the staff team and volunteers more often beingasked to support quite complex families. l am proud to say that they do this with commitment, caring and compassion. My sincere thanks to Linda, the staff team and volunteers, they really can and do make a difference to the lives of the families they supportl My thanks to my colleagues on the Trustee Board who bring a wealth of expertise and professionalism to the role of trustee. Additional thanks to Gill, Rosemary and Colin for their time and commitment to the work of Home-start Southern Oxfordshire. Doreen McNulty Chalrof Trustees
Treasurer's Report The scheme had an overall deficitof£29,702.78 in the year to 31st March 2023. A deficit had been budgeted, funded from reserves, in order to mai ntain staffing levels and the service we are able to provide to our families. We are pleased to report the fantastic support from: The Henry Smith Charity of £46,300, as a contribution to supporting families in the Vale of White Horse District. the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund of £24,408, allowing us to support military families. The FourAcre Trust of£12,021. BBC Children In Need of£lO,395.83, for our Parenting Group. South Oxfordshire District Counci l of £10,077, as a contribution to supporting families in the South Oxfordshire District. The Eileen Kirkland Will Trust of £10,000. We have received funding from many town and parish councils, as well as grant giving trusts, organisations and individuals. We thank them all. Expenditure was well within budget, as a result of tight controls, even though we spent a large sum in updating our computer equipment. Year-on-year staff salaries increased, primarily as a result of a pay award that was well above the 20/0 budgeted level but necessary to help offset the high inflation levels. Reserves Policy Our reseNes policy is to hold sufficient reseNes to cover potential liabilities if the scheme was to close, plus anticipated funding requirements forthe forthcoming year, plus a general reserve of no more than 12 months of annual income. We had reserves at the financial year end totalli ng £109,659.80.
Treasurer's Report This is represented by three reseNes: a designated reserve of £41,000- to cover a Pension Trust liability of about £28,000 and potential liabilities from redundancy payments and closingdown costs. a free reserve of £61,843.23- to meet a budgeted deficit in 2023124. This represents unfunded budgeted expenditure. The DirectorslTrustees have agreed this to ensure the level of our services can be maintained in the coming year and are confident that sources of funding can be identified during the coming year to keep our reserves at a minimum level. a general, free reseNe of £6,816.57. The total of our free reserves represents 4 months of the budgeted expenditure for 2023124. Once again, we offer our sincere thanks to all the organisations, individuals and trusts that have supported us throughout the year, together with all our dedicated staff and volunteers. We are fortunate to have reserves to cover budgeted shortfalls but ongoing funding will be an increasing challenge, as we try to maintai n the demands on our services while supporting our families. Colln Campbell Treasurer "Having support from Home-start has been key to my recovery. Thank you very much indeed" - Parent who received volunteer support
Manager's Report We started this financial yearwith a bonanza Easter. We were fortunate to be selected, once again, by Tesco Didcot to be one oftheir chosen charities for their Easter egg collection. We had trays of delicious chocolate delights, with which, together with some art and craft and othergoodies left overfrom donated Christmas gifts, we were able to make up Easter goodie bags for each child in every family we were working with. This coincided with an offerfrom Home-start UK, who had been contacted by Russell & Bromley with an offer of new shoes. Russell & Bromley stopped selling children's shoes and offered thei r remaining stock to Home-start UK. We applied to be considered for an allocation of shoes and were amazed and somewhat overwhelmed to have 173 pairs of shoes i n boxes delivered to the office. With the help of Doreen & Gill (Chair and Vice Chairl who sorted the shoes and made an inventory, we were able to offer and deliver shoes to families in need. Once we had delivered all that were needed by the families we work with, shoes were distributed to various good causes. The few men's shoes which were included in the delivery were given to a homeless centre in Oxford and the remaining pairs were given to a Rotary club for distribution to refugees they were supporting. Becau chlldh can't Oo
Manager's Report In May, Cllr Pam Siggers became Mayor of Didcot. Pam was also a Home- Visitingvolunteer with us and we were very fortunate that she chose us as one of her charities for her mayoral year in office. Pam raised £1,000 for Home-start Southern Oxfordshire in her year, forwhich we are extremely grateful. During the school summer holidays we were fortunate enough to be included in the wonderful Didcot Grub Hub, in association with Didcot Powerhouse, to attend two play days at Didcot Railway Centre. Families who were experiencing a difficult time were invited along to the free attraction and were also provided with lunch. Both days were a huge success, with many children benef iting from the experience. We were also grateful to launch the Kickstart Fund th is year. A donation was received to enable children who are starting school to have a new pair of shoes. The fund also expands to provide sports shoes forchildren who would be unable to participate i n sports clubs if they did not have the correct footwear. Our volunteers identify the need within the family they are working with and apply to the fund, and they are then able to take the family shoe shopping. •• At Christmas time we were able to return to holding a Christmas party for the families we work with. This was held i n Didcot Civic Hall and was great fun. We were lucky to have Bertie Slippers providi ng the entertainment and the children were delighted when Father Christma5 arrived on a fire enginel Again, this year, due to the generosity of Play2Give, Tesco, B T and White Stuff, we were able to supply gifts to all the families we support. io
Manager's Report Since the pandemic, our referrals have steadily increased and during this year we have received 172 referrals and worked with 116 families, while supporting another 78 families through our First Babies Group. We have noted that the referrals we are receiving are becoming more and more complex, with greater additional needs in children and increase in mental health difficulties for parents. This means it is more important than everto attract new volunteers and ensure they are well trained and feel comfortable and equipped to support the families they are matched with. We held 2 successful Preparation Courses and trained a total of 13 new volunteers. We had the opportunity to offer additional training to our volunteers, including an Introduction to Autism hosted by Autism Family Su pport Oxfordshire, Understanding Hoarding which was a shared opportunity with Home-start Oxford, and an Introduction to Children's Mental Health offered in person at our office by CAMHS. Also, First Stop Safety Training (Tiny Lives) hosted in association with Home-start Banbury, Bicester & Chipping Norton. We also hosted a coffee morning in July for our volunteer5 and included an invite to our prospective ones, so they were ableto come along and meet some of our more established volunteers and hear their experiences of supporting families. We had a few changes in personnel over this year. Our Development Manager, Faye, had started her maternity leave in February 2022 and in April we welcomed Stacey Davies to the team to cover this role in Faye's absence. Then in May we said a temporary goodbye to Lucia who also went on maternity leave. In August we welcomed Anita Davidson to the team as an Organiser to cover Lucia's post. li
Manager's Report We also said a final goodbye to Janet Mcllvennie, who had been with the scheme for more than 30 years and had officially retired last year, but had kindly carried on working as our Bookkeeper. She finally said goodbye to the scheme, but remains a very good friend of Home-start Southern Oxfordshire. In February 2023 Faye returned to work and faced the immediate challenge presented to us, as we learned the funding we received from the Army Covenant Fund Trust was ending and we had not been successful in applying for a continuation. Our two groups, First Babies and our Parenting Support Group (known as Wednesday Group), ran successfully throughout the year and updates for these are shown separately within this Annual Report. I would like to Use this opportun ity to thank.. the team for their continued support and compassion for the families we work with. ourwonderful volunteers who give up so much oftheirtime and without whom we would not be able to do the workwe do, our Board ofTrustees who have supported and steered us onwards through anotheryear of supporting families in the southern area of Oxfordshire. 'Home-Start support has been amazing. I can't thank you enough. Just knowing someone was there who understood and knew what we were experiencing was a massive relief I - Afamily of multiple birth, who had a Home-visitingvolunteer Linda Cheong Manager 12
Volunteer Support Hi hts Lovely match as a mother/grandmotherly figure to support Dad & youngest child. Dad struggles with his mental health and was very isolated. Dad's goals were to take youngest to playgroup regularly? have some 'me' time to get back into running and generally become less overwhelmed with household chores and the needs ofthe family. Dad, with support from J was able to work towards achieving his goal and was left feeling more empowered. J befriended in such a way that she still continues to stay in touch with the family as a friend. Supported a young, first-time mum with ASD IAutism Spectrum Di50rderl and her 5-month-old baby. They were new to the area with no friends orfamily nearby. Partner was at work during the day. V took Mum and daughter out into the community on walks to help her become familiarwith the area and accompanied herto baby groups. Confidence gradually built and Mum was soon able to go on her own to the group and made a couple offriends there. Unfortunately, the baby developed some health issues and V was able to support with attending hospital visits. The illness has significantly impacted on baby's development as weaning wa5 delayed and she is yet to meet some expected milestones. V, has provided ongoing emotional and practical support to the family. - Supported a grandfatherwho is the main carer forthree young grandchildren. He was finding it difficult to go out with all of the children. Our volunteer, L, visited weekly and supported in taking the children to the local play park and out on walks, enabling Grandad to feel less stressed and for the children to experience being outdoors and playing. L also went along with the family to an activity day we were able to signpost to run by The Grub Hub in Didcot. 13
Volunteer Support Hi hts Supported a large family where the children were under a Social Care Child Protection Plan. The parents had historic issues and were experiencing difficulties with coping with the chi Idren, which resulted in many professionals visiting the house and working with the children and parents. Our role in the Child Protection Plan was to visit weekly and engage with the second youngest child, who was turningtwo. Unfortunately, even though the child was entitled to an early years childcare placement, in the area the family live there were no avai lable spaces. Volunteer J took resources and engaged and played with the child each week. The child slowly learnt numbers, shapes and colours and how to how to sing, hop and jump. She learnt how to solve simple puzzles, share, Stack and thread, plus many other new skills. J was able to model how you interact and play with your child. The child will start nursery in September and is more'school ready, due to J's involvement with the fami ly. - Supported a Mum who had recently separated from her husband due to domestic abuse. Mum had 4-month-old twins. Unfortunately, one ofthe twins had been diagnosed with a medical condition for which they needed regular visits to hospital. The family do not drive and had relocated to an area which they were not fami liar and therefore had no network of friends or family. Mum felt rather isolated, especially as her first language is not English. Our volunteer, A, was able to take Mum and the children to their hospital appointments. Mum also struggled to get the children out to parks or for walks, so A also helped them get out so they could familiarise themselves with the area and enjoy being outside. She also took them to do large supermarket shops, which helped with budgeting. 14
Home-start Groups We've worked with 94 families at our parent and child support groups, First babies Group and Home-start Parenting Group, this year. Fua115ng Be First Babies Group Our Tuesday mornings at Ladygrove Community Centre continue to be a hive of activity. We usually have a regular group o at least 13 parents and 13 babies on any one day. We provide a nurturing, welcoming, social space where families may access support and advice f rom our experienced staff and other parents, reducing social isolation and supporting mental health. At the end of2022 our lovely group volunteer, Sandy, retired. She has supported many families duri ng her time with us and we thank her for all her help over the years. Our other group volunteer, Helen, continues to be an asset supporting the group with herexperience and advice and we welcome Gill, one of our Home-visiting Volunteers, who now kindly supports the group too. Home-start Parenting Group CNldpen In NeeLI Our Home-start Parenting Group, formerly called Wednesday Group, continues to be held in a private room at Didcot Library, This year we have supported eight regular parents and their children. This small group is for referred families who would find attending a larger group difficult. We provide support and advice on all aspects of child development and our aim is to reduce social isolation, improve family relationships and to improve self-esteem of both children and parents. Subjects covered at group include infant mental health, the importance of play, reducing debt5, reducingfood waste and dental health. Our group Volunteer, Dina, has been supporting this rewarding and lively group. 15
Family Support and Community Liaison Unbelievably, I have now been in the role of Family Support/Community Liaison Worker for more than 6 yearsl Time has sped byl I have continued to offer rapid response support to military personnel, and their families, under the heading of 'Removing Barriers to Family Life, This has been very successful with support offered on a one-to-one basis in the family home. Support is varied and includes mental health, parenting skills, isolation and building confidence and self-esteem. I deliver the Family Links Nurturing Programme and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Although these are usually delivered to the adults of the families, su Pport has a positive effect on everyonel ARMEO FORCES COVENANT Support is flexible to help accommodate every situation. For instance, I have been working with a Dad who is unable to receive support in the daytime, so I have delivered the Family Li nks Nurturing Programme in the evening via Teams online. Two Mums returningto work have had telephone support in the evenings. Referrals are received from various agencies, as well as self-referrals. Support extends to families living on or off the bases of Dalton Barracks (Abingdonl, Vauxhall Barracks (Didcotl, RAF Benson and the Defence Academy in Shrivenham. I continue to attend events such as Family Days, Meet and Greet Days, Wellbeing Days and Coffee Mornings. As this financial year comes to a close, the future of our highly successful and unique service we offerto Armed Forces families hangs in the balance due to lack of funding. We are hopingto work more closely with the Armed Forces bases we cover forthem to support us in finding funding for ourworkto continue. l• Gill Jone5 Family Supportlcommunlty Liaison Worker 16
Our Impact 'You will never know what an impact you had on our liv•sl You saved our liveslll? 'It's so lovely that we had the option to go to the park once week. Wehadthe besttimel l amso gratelul lor th• help. Fridays were blessing" Fatnilywho had a rnultiple birth (both had additional needs) and received Family Supportworker support. Family who received volunteer supporton a Friday. 'Thank you $0 much for working with the family. Your servile goes beyond bounds and is without a doubt an amazing facility we are lucky to have In Oxfordshlre" A professional who referred a family. 'Thank you for everything Home-start has done for thls famlly. She was very appreclatlve and is feeling more confident and less anxious now, A Health Visitor who referred a latnily. SIMY youngest chlld asks me almort •very day If it is Tuesday today Ithe day our volunteer vlsltsl as she so enjoys hervisits. Even if the volunteer has been the day before lon Tuesday), sh• will ask in th• morningl" ¢SThank you $0 much for all th•t you have done for my famlly. You have been a great support. I'm golng to miss YOU" Family with a disabled child who had volunteer support. Single Mum of two children who had volunteer sUPPOrt. 17
Fundraising Highlights We were delighted to have been awarded a grantfrom The Didcot Powerhouse Fund to fund our First Babies Group. The Didcot Powerhouse Fund was founded by local people to tackle inequality in the Didcot Garden Town Area of Influence, which encompasses the wider area of Didcot and the surroundingvillages. The 2022 fund theme was'supporting children, young people and families as we emerge from the pandemic,. We received an incredible£2,883.28 Iiom Co-op's Local Community Fundl We are especially grateful to all the Co-op membe who chose Home-start Southern Oxfordshire as their chosen charity. Thank you once again to Play2Give's Sleigh2Give toy donation at Christmasl We also received gift donations from Tesco Superstore in Didcot and BT Openreach which enabled us to provide gifts to all the children in the families we su pport. This year we were also able to give parents, as well as our volunteers, a giftfrom the wonderful gift donations - %f, we received from White Stuff. A huge thank you to all the local businesses and organisations, such as TK Maxx Foundation, Waitrose, Infineum Smile and Oxfordshire 500 who offered support and donations, as well as to all our supporters who made one-off and direct debit donations to us throughout the yearl 18
Trustees and Staff April 2022-March 2023 Trustees: Doreen McNulty Gill Bodey Colin Campbell Rosemary Knagg Barbara Guast Helen Conway Rob Hufton luntil September20221 Tanya Skelton Caroline Couldrick {co-opted June 20221 Abi Reynolds (co-opted March 2023} Chair Vice Chair Hon. Treasurer Staff: Linda Cheong Lydia Davison Lucia Prentice Anita Davidson Gill Jones Jacquie Boshell Faye Golding-King Stacey Davies Kelly Summers Manager Organiser Organiser Organiser (from August 20221 Family Supportlcommunity Liaison Worker Group Worker Development Manager Development Manager Imaternity Cover} Office Administrator Independent Examiner: Sue Scane, CIPFA Home-start Safeguarding Home-start Southern Oxfordshire is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults, and expects all trustees, staff, volunteers and members to share this commitment. Our policies on safeguarding children and adults are available on request. 19
Funders Parish Councils Crowmarsh, Little Milton, Stoke Row, Steventon, Wootton, East Hagbourne, Harwell. South Oxfordshire District Council Revenue Grant. Town Councils Didcot, Wantage. Charitable Trusts The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, BBC Children in Need, The Henry Smith Charity, Four Acre Trust, Stanton Ballard Charitable Trust, Eileen Kirkland Will Trust, Didcot Powerhouse Fund, Faringdon United Charities, Postcode Society Trust/Localgiving Magic Little Grants. Home-start UK HSUK Army Central Fund Business Donors Waitrose Wantage, Co-op Local Community Fund, Infineum SMILE, TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation, M&Co Didcot. Groups and Individuals Wallingford and District Rotary Clu b, Aston Tirrold United Reformed Church, Kickstart Fund, Players ofthe White Horse Community Lottery, Players ofthe SODC Charitable Lottery. Thank you to all fa milies and volunteers, past and present, who donate their expenses, make donations in lieu of birthday gifts, andlor make regulardonationsto thescheme, often boosted by Gift Aid. 20
Quality Assurance We are proud to be quality assured through the Home-start Quality Assurance System- a programme ofself-assessment against nationwide quality standards. The process looks at the continuous improvement of all our practice areas relating to governance, management and seNice delivery. At our last Quality Assurance Review in February 2018 we were categorised as'Demonstrating H igh Quality,, having met IOOO/o of the legal, safegUardinChild protection and other mandatory performance indicators. Public Benefit Statement The Trustees have a duty to report on the scheme's public benefit. They have taken into account the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit in planning the year's activities. This report demonstrates how Home-start Southern Oxfordshire fulfils its charitable objectives which are: 'To safeguard, protect and preserve the good health, both mental and physical, of children and parents. to prevent cruelty to or maltreatment of children. to relieve sickness, poverty and need amongst chi Idren and parents. to promote the education of the public in better standards of childcare in southern Oxfordshire,. Membership Risk Management Membership of Home-start The trustees have assessed the Southern Oxfordshire is open to major risks to wh ich the scheme is any person i nterested in exposed, in particular those relating furthering the objectives quoted to finances and operations, and above, and approved by the believe that arrangements are in trustees. Members are entitled to place to mitigate vote at the AGM and other general those risks. meetings. Application forms are available on request from the scheme. 21
ME STIRT Home-start Southern Oxfordshire 197 Broadway Didcot OXII 8RU 01235 511152 admin@homestartso.org HomeStartSouthernOxfordshire @HomeStart_S_Ox Southern Oxfordshire www.homestart-southernoxfordshire.org.uk Home-start Southern Oxfordshire is a company limited by guarantee. registered in England and Wales Number.. 05443274 Registered Charity Number: 1113941 Printed byGoring Pre55 01491872555 enquirie5@goringpre5s.co.uk
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