REDDITCH MP Karen Lumley has pledged to help and support Home-Start – the organisation that helps vulnerable families and is at risk of closure.
Mrs Lumley visited Home-Start last Friday (August 5) to give some financial advice to the struggling charity and to assure them she will do everything she can to prevent them from going under.
The group talked for almost an hour about the options available to the cash-strapped charity, based on Easemore Road.
Manager Karen Jones said: “We are really grateful for her support and she has given us some very good advice.
“She has a lot more contacts than we do and we’re really looking forward to her joining us for a charity collection around town in the coming weeks to help boost our funds and keep us open just a little longer until we can secure the full funding we need.”
The charity needs a large cash injection and to secure permanent funding but Mrs Lumley believes a few small scale funding projects to act as a temporary sticking plaster will still be very useful.
“The staff and volunteers at Home-Start fulfill a vital need in our community and I know many people rely on their services,” she said.
“I want them to tap in to the resources available and maintain the good work they have been doing for so long.”
For 27 years Home-Start North East Worcestershire has helped the most vulnerable families across Redditch and Bromsgrove working with Health, Social Services, Education and Early Help and helping to keep children and families out of the care system.
“We provide a buoyancy aid to keep families from falling below the line,” said Ms Jones.
“It would put a lot more pressure on Social Services in the area if we had to close.”
The organisation was funded by Worcestershire County Council, Redditch Borough Council and Bromsgrove District Council but this ceased in November 2015, and its Lottery grant runs out at the end of August.
Visit www.home-start.org.uk/home-start-north-east-worcs for details.
Go to https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/tarra-dwyer-2#! to donate.
