The Lord Mayor and Sheriff of Norwich have chosen Home-Start Norfolk as their civic charity appeal for 2021-2022.
As we [Home-Start Norfolk] look to build back better from Covid, this appeal provides an important platform to promote the vital importance of early intervention; empowering Norwich families to thrive.
Sheriff of Norwich, Caroline Jarrold said:
“I was delighted that we chose to support Early Years activity in Norwich through Home-Start Norfolk as the Civic Charity for this year.
The challenges of new parenthood are immense for so many people and the work of the staff and the band of highly trained, well-supported and dedicated volunteers is humbling to see. We can see that they really make a difference to people’s lives and want to raise awareness of their work and help them to support as many families as possible.”
Recent statistics reveal that sadly Norwich has 34%, or 9,497 children living in poverty (End Child Poverty Coalition, 2020), which is the highest level in the whole of Norfolk. Combined with this, and the impact of the Covid pandemic exacerbating challenges for the most vulnerable families, demand for family support in Norwich is growing. All funds raised through the civic appeal will go directly towards the costs of supporting Norwich based families.
Lord Mayor of Norwich, Dr Cllr Kevin Maguire:
“For parents who may be finding family life with young children overwhelming, the support Home-Start Norfolk provides will be seen as a life-line – whether that’s a much-needed listening ear, to help managing finances, bespoke help to ensure young ones get the best start.
Caroline and I are in awe of the work the team does and proud we can play a role in helping get the word out about it.”
The ethos behind the Home-Start model is to give children the best start in life, working with parents to address emerging issues at the earliest opportunity that will have the greatest impact on early years development and avoid difficulties becoming more entrenched and expensive to address later in life. There is overwhelming evidence showing that the first 1,001 days of a child’s life (from conception to age two) are the most impactful in determining good emotional wellbeing, confidence, educational attainment and improving lifelong outcomes.
Daniel Williams, chief executive of Home-Start Norfolk, says; “The focus on early years isn’t just about making a difference to the lives of families today, it’s about raising the next generation of adults, it’s about creating a more nurturing society for them to live in.”
The cost of delivering a package of around 6 months of weekly support to a family living in Norwich is around £1,800 - including a full needs assessment with an experienced family services co-ordinator, inducting a suitably trained checked volunteer, weekly tailored emotional and practical support visits to families’ homes and remote support options tailored specifically to address individual needs.
All funds raised through the civic appeal will go directly towards supporting Norwich-based families. Donations can be made by mobile phone or online:
• To DONATE £3, text 'CIVICCHARITY 3' TO 70085
• To DONATE £5, text 'CIVICCHARITY 5' TO 70085
• To DONATE £10, text 'CIVICCHARITY 10' TO 70085
Donations can be made between £1 and £20 by changing the number at the end of the text message.
Texts cost the donation value plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to give but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text 'CIVICCHARITYNOINFO' to 70085.
Alternatively, donations can be made via the Total Giving fundraising webpage.
News release authored by: Home-Start Norfolk
- More articles in the news archive
- Norwich City Council news RSS feed
