**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 Ltam1rb￿Ch￿Irt<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, safegUardin￿Child 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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