Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester is launching a new membership scheme for businesses.

The local charity, which has supported more than 600 families in the last year alone, is hoping 25 local businesses will come forward in its 25th anniversary year to help keep its vital work going.

Stonehouse-based Clear Future Financial Planners is the first business to become a Business Friend of Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester, believing this is an ideal way for local businesses to give support to their local community.

Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester's aim is to see every parent living in Stroud and Gloucester getting the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life. It believes passionately in early intervention and a strengths-based approach to helping families overcome any challenges they face, with parents receiving the support they need to be the best they can be.

During 2022-23, the following projects provided support to 683 families in Stroud and Gloucester:

• Home visiting - weekly visits by volunteers to support families
• Bump-Start programme - ante-natal groups
• Best-Start programme - post-natal groups
• Mothers in Mind - perinatal mental health programme
• Arkell Family Fun - stay and play group for families
• Dad Matters Gloucestershire - support group to help dads build positive relationships with their families

On average, a family uses Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester's support for just under a year to overcome their problems and reach a point when they can confidently support themselves once more.

Ri Ferrier, CEO of Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester, said: "The cost-of-living crisis has made life extra tough for many families, especially in sectors where income and job stability are unpredictable. The extra strain this creates leads to more families seeking out our help.

"Yet the same situation means we're having to fight harder to obtain funding, as all charities are needing more money to help more people. Since Covid, it's predicted that one in four charities will close because of the increased funding demands yet increasing funding scarcity.

"Local businesses could play such an important role in helping families at this tough time. They can't work with the families themselves, but if they join us as a Business Friend, they'll be funding our volunteers and staff to use their skills to directly help families. We still need to raise £150,000 to keep our services running during 2024."

To launch the new scheme, Clear Future Financial Planners of Stonehouse has become the first Business Friend of Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester.

Michelle Morgan, financial planner for Clear Future Financial Planners, said: "We're absolutely delighted to have the honour of becoming the first Business Friend. The importance of the early years in a child's development is often overlooked by society, yet there's plenty of research showing these years play a vital role in developing a child's skills and confidence, which will affect the rest of their lives."

She continued: "People think financial planning is just about money and figures. But it's really about looking at a person's whole life to ensure they and their family have what they need to be secure, to thrive and to build a future around their priorities. Money is simply a tool to achieve this.

"Clear Future Financial Planners helps with the financial side, which is one side of the coin. We wanted to support Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester, as it so effectively helps with the other side of the coin - the emotional and practical side of family life."

The financial support from Clear Future Financial Planners, and other Business Friends, could help one or more families to receive the support they need for a year, and contribute towards the cost of running the existing, successful projects. For example:

• A home visit to a family costs £38

• A family attending the Mothers in Mind sessions, a peer support mental health group, costs £14 per mother per session

• Participation in the Dad Matters groups for fathers costs £17 per father per session

Sponsorship for becoming a Business Friend of Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester starts at £25/ month or £250/ year for small businesses and £50/ month or £500/ year for larger, corporate companies.

For more details about the Business Friend scheme, contact Ri Ferrier, director of Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester via email: ri@homestartsd.org or call 07821 341803 (Mon - Thurs, 8.30am - 4pm).

Image credit: Gig Binder