Williams Family

A young family finds themselves in turmoil when suddenly their Father dies in a road traffic accident.  Mum has always left everything to dad other than the bringing up of their four children.  (I think you would agree a full time job for any mum).  Now she finds herself on her own struggling with her own emotions but trying to keep a brave face for the sake of the children.

Home-Start supported this family by being there for mum, helping with the children, giving practical support and a listening ear.  Two years on mum is now a volunteer at Home-Start and in mum’s words “Just putting a little back into a life-line organisation”.

Gilliot Family

Mum with one young son aged 10, unexpectedly finds out she is having a new baby.  Feeling quite worried about this as dad works in London during the week and already feels alone to bring up new family.  Mum would love the support of her own family around her but unfortunately they live in Devon.

After having the baby (triplets) devastation took hold of the family as one of the babies was found to have cerebral palsy.  If this was not hard enough to cope with, one of the little girls was also found to have liver cancer.  Home-Start supported this family by assisting her with all the inevitable hospital appointments, giving mum time to sleep when she could not hold her head up and spent time with the older son to talk about how he was feeling when all this chaos was going on.

Eight months later Kiren is still receiving treatment for her cancer and Niron is now in plaster casts, hoping his legs can be straightened enough for when he starts to walk.

Home-Start is still visiting the family working together to keep as much family life as normal as possible.