“Home-Start, for me, is the best charity out there. They’ve helped both me and my partner be the parents we are today. Our little boy came on leaps and bounds because of our volunteer. I cannot thank them enough.”
Home-Start’s Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS)
The PAIRS project explores the crucial link between attachment and brain development in children during their first two years of life. These early experiences profoundly impact a child’s future mental health and relationships. We collaborate with CAPS (Child and Parent Service) and health visiting and other services supporting families in the peri-natal period.
We acknowledge that various factors can affect early relationships and parental well-being, including past traumas, external stressors, and the common difficulties of caring for a new baby. We offer support to anyone experiencing these challenges.
Our dedicated volunteers undergo extensive training to support families facing mild to moderate mental health challenges effectively.
We provide support through engaging activities and resources that strengthen parent-infant relationships, enhance understanding of baby development, empower parents, and offer evidence-based parenting tools. We support the family by offering a weekly home visit. We aim to significantly enhance the well-being of Manchester’s families and contribute to the long-term health and development of children in our community.
Our specially trained PAIRS Parent Volunteers and Family Support Worker will support families where the parent/s have mild to moderate mental ill health through weekly home visits for as long as the family need it. The support will be focused on the parents’ relationship with their unborn or young infant and may include:
Enjoyable interactive activities and resources to help build a strong relationship both before and after birth
An opportunity to explore all aspects of baby development including the amazing baby brain, how babies communicate, how we can help to calm and soothe babies in our fast-moving world, and other important developmental information
Empower and encourage parents as the experts in their baby’s care and how they play the most important part of all
Share evidence-based tools and techniques with parents to help them manage the transition to parenthood and the challenges it brings
For more information please contact project Coordinator Lara Aspin: lara.aspin@homestartmcr.org.uk
Home-Start’s Teenage Parent project
The Teenage Parent Project supports parents and parents-to-be who became pregnant under the age of 19. Young parents can be supported all through pregnancy and once baby has been born for as long as the parents need it.
The support is focused on improving the young parents’ confidence, reducing isolation and supporting them to access services. Many young parents face extra challenges at this time and support from a volunteer who will encourage and empower them as new parents will give the new family the best start in life.
Home-Start’s Thriving Babies: Confident Parents
The Thriving Babies: Confident Parents Project is about promoting the health, wellbeing and safeguarding of children through working differently with their parents during pregnancy and during the child’s early years. It is a multi agency approach, working pro-actively with parents to build on strengths. The project includes intensive assessment, support and intervention programme for at risk babies.
Delivered by a multi-agency programme team composed of statutory and VCS partners;
Home-Start
Big Manchester (Barnardo’s)
Midwifery
Health Visiting
CAPS (The Children and Parents Service)
Early Help (MCC)
Adult Social Care (MCC)
The Big Life Group
PLEASE NOTE; Referrals for this project must come through the ‘Thriving Babies Confident Parents panel’ and cannot be made through our enquiry form on this website.
Dad Matters
Dad Matters is here for fathers with partners expecting or having a child under two years old. We specialise in supporting dads in areas such as attachment, mental health, and connecting them to services through partnerships with maternity, health visiting, Family Hubs, and various early years support services.
At Dad Matters Manchester, we are fully committed to delivering one-on-one peer support. Our primary objective is to assist fathers in accessing essential services and information while enriching their understanding of their role as dads. This includes connecting fathers with resources and offering guidance to manage anxiety, stress, and promote awareness of mental health issues that can impact on us all.
Walk and talks – once a month in the many parks we have on our doorstep. Keep an eye on our social media to keep up to date with the up-coming walk and talks. These are a great way to talk to other dads, share some quality time with your children and have some peer-to-peer support from our coordinators and volunteers, or just talk about the football.
Outreach at antenatal clinics and in Family Hubs. If you are attending an appointment or just need someone to talk to, our Dad Matters Coordinator will be at various venues across the City, why not pop to say hello to him and have a chat.
Join Dad Matters for a FREE online workshop for dads-to-be and new dads with babies under 12 weeks old. During this online video session, we will talk about our three key topics: Attachment and Bonding, Mum’s and Dad’s Mental Health and Wellbeing and Access to Appropriate Services. We also cover Labour, Birth and Beyond from a dad’s perspective. This is your chance to learn about aiding your baby’s development, consoling your baby, how to cope with a crying baby, how to look after yourself in this major life transition, how to support your partner, where to go for help, support, advice, and education about new babies! Every 3rd Tuesday and 3rd Saturday of each month. Book online at dadmatters.org.uk.
For any more information on the support we can offer new and expectant Dads in Manchester, please contact our coordinator: matthew.gill@homestartmcr.org.uk
If you are ready to apply to become a Dad Matters volunteer for us, then please fill in the Dad Matters Volunteer Application form by clicking on the button below, or if you’d like to receive a paper application call our offices directly on 0161 721 4493
Virtual Support Group
Home Start Manchester is starting a virtual group for parents with a child under 2!
Are you working with a family in the peri-natal period that you think would benefit from a virtual group to start to build their confidence and give them ideas of easy fun activities they can do with their baby to promote both their relationship with baby and also babies development?
Home-Start Manchester’s virtual group will be on a Friday morning at 10am for approximately 45 minutes.
We aim to build confidence as a step towards accessing face-to-face groups in the local area and other Family Hubs services, although families already accessing groups and/or Hubs services can also attend.
If you are a parent with a child under 2 and would like to attend the group, you can also self refer via the link to the enquiry form below.
Activities will include: Nursery Rhymes, Action Songs, Peekaboo, exchanging of ideas and much more.
Families can join part way through as we know babies don’t conform to schedules!