About us

Home-Start Barnet, Brent and Harrow is an independent charity that helps families with children through their challenging times. We are part of the Home-Start UK family; a national network of charities working in 71% of local authority areas across the UK.

We support families in the boroughs of Barnet, Brent and Harrow who are facing issues such as loneliness, isolation, financial difficulties, anxiety, post-natal depression, ill health, multiple births, or disabilities. We help them grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children and forge links with the local community.

Since opening in October 1997, we have supported almost 3,500 families (including more than 7,000 children) and have recruited and trained 563 volunteers from the boroughs we work in.

Our approach

Early intervention can significantly increase a child’s chances of growing up happy and healthy, which in turn helps the wellbeing of their community and lessens the burden on local services.

Our core work is with families with (at least) one child under five. Trained volunteers visit the family once a week, supporting them in a variety of emotional and practical ways. We also work with families with older children by delivering parenting programmes focussing on strengthening parenting skills, such as positive discipline and confidence. To see a list of our current programmes, please click here.

We are:

• Child-focused – we support parents and carers to deliver the best outcomes for children
• A whole family approach – we support and empower everyone closely involved in a child’s life
• And we encourage an empowerment culture, which runs through every aspect of the organisation

Our referral process

We often receive our referrals from social care agencies, such as a family’s health visitor or social worker. However, we also work with families who have self-referred when things have become too hard for them to carry on as they are.

Once we receive a referral, our Family Support Coordinators will be in touch with the family and will then match a volunteer to that family. Our volunteers are fully trained and receive ongoing support, so our families feel secure in the confidential support they offer.