About us

The Starting Well Partnership has delivered public health nursing services for children, young people, and families across Worcestershire since April 2020.

The Partnership, which is led by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and includes Barnardo’s, Action for Children, and Redditch Borough Council, brings together a range of teams from health visitors, specialist nursery nurses, breastfeeding support, school health nurses, early help services and support for children who require more specialist care. They support ‘parents to be’ and their children during the early years and will ensure young people’s health needs are met as they move through school towards adulthood. Starting Well Family Hubs in each of the county’s six districts offer a range of support including parenting groups.

The role

Start for Life Peer Supporter Volunteer Role Description

If you are a parent/carer, grandparent, someone with parenting experience or you wish to pursue a career working with families, this could be the role for you. Following the successful completion of our training course, you will be invited to work alongside community health connectors to offer informal support to women and their partners starting as early as possible in pregnancy and up until their child is 2.

The Start for Life Peer Support Programme delivery is based on the Parents 1st Model, where volunteer peer supporters provide a crucial layer of support between communities and local professionals. The aim of this role is for you to walk the journey with parents through pregnancy and the early years of parenthood. This will take place in their home and community venues. Start for Life Peer Supporters aim to build the confidence and independence of the family by:

• Offering support, friendship, and practical help

• Developing a relationship with the family in which time can be shared and an understanding developed, providing a regular, reliable presence in that family

• Drawing on their own experience of parenting to encourage parents’ strengths and emotional well-being for the ultimate benefit of their own children

• Encouraging families to widen their network of relationships and to use effectively the support and services available in the community

For more information about Parents 1st, please visit www.parents1st.org.uk You will signpost families to support within their community and where required you will set up support groups within the community with initial support from the Community Health Connectors for families to access.

Additional information

We ask all our volunteers to offer a year’s commitment to us where possible, however we strive to be inclusive to all applicant’s dependent on their circumstances and will be accessible to all members of the community aged 18 or above.

Before starting your volunteering, you will be invited to attend an induction course appropriate to your volunteer role. The length of the course will be dependent on the preferred pathway.

A satisfactory enhanced DBS check along with medical clearance and two references will be required prior to the commencement of any placement.

All prospective volunteers will be interviewed on an equal opportunities’ basis. Placements will seek to match volunteer’s skills, talents, and interests with their own specific needs.

Please note there is no closing date for this Volunteer Opportunity.

Applications will be checked on a weekly basis, once you have applied someone the volunteer coordinator will contact you to take you through the next steps.

Information on all our volunteering roles and frequently asked questions can be found on the Starting Well website:
https://www.startingwellworcs.nhs.uk/volunteering
Frequently Asked Questions | Starting Well (startingwellworcs.nhs.uk)

For more information about this volunteering opportunity, please contact:
Tracy Ames contact details on 07768307628
or email tracy.ames@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk

Supporting documents
Start for Life Peer Supporter Volunteer Role Description- May 22 (002).docx
Volunteering leaflet - Start for Life Volunteers.docx