SIR,

At the end of 2010, Home Start Monmouthshire received a three year grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

This was to enable us to recruit volunteers to visit families with young children who were going through a difficult patch and in need of some extra help and support.

In the last three years we have helped 176 families with a wide range of problems.

Monmouthshire is a very rural county and many families feel very isolated and lonely and have difficulties accessing services.

For all the families, having a volunteer who is willing to listen so that they can talk in confidence about their difficulties and problems and explore ways in which they can be resolved, has been invaluable.

As the end of the three year period of the grant grew closer the staff and trustees of Home Start Monmouthshire were very concerned that we would not be able to continue helping the many families in need of the support that we offer.

However thanks to grants from Monmouthshire County Council, Monmouth Town Council, Abergavenny Town Council and two charitable trusts, Home Start Monmouthshire is able to continue supporting young families in the county for another year.

This funding is not quite sufficient to continue the service at the current level but we are continuing to fundraise and are applying for further grants so we can help even more families.

In addition to extra funding we urgently need more trustees to work with and support the staff and volunteers in the coming year.

In particular we need a treasurer and somebody who can help with publicity, but we also need people who have a general interest in our work and some time to spare to help us develop Home Start Monmouthshire in the coming year.

We are a company limited by guarantee and the trustee board meets bi-monthly.

If you would like to find out more, please phone our chairman, Jill Hiscox, on 01600 890227 or our manager, Pam Lloyd, on 01600 715608.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Spokesperson from Home Start

(Monmouth)