Get support
There’s no rule book for raising a family and sometimes it can seem overwhelming. We can offer friendship and support when parents are struggling to cope with what life is throwing at them. Our services include:
· One to one support from a volunteer
· Rising Stars Family Group
· Evening Stars Parent Peer Support Group
· Recipe for Life Healthy Eating Programme
· Perinatal Peer Support Groups
One-to-one support
Our one-to-one support service is free and unique. We recruit and train volunteers – who are usually parents themselves – to visit local families in their own homes. As a Home-Start Aberdeen family you will be carefully matched with a volunteer whose skills and experience best fit your own situation and challenges. Your volunteer will offer informal, friendly and confidential support.
Your Home-Start Aberdeen volunteer will:
- Visit your family on a weekly basis
- Provide friendship and practical support
- Help with setting and maintaining routines and boundaries
- Support you to be involved in your child’s early learning and development
- Help you to be a more confident and capable parent
- Help with your family’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing
- Help you connect with other families and explore your community
- Accompany you to appointments
- Access information on other organisations for you, such as health, education or financial advice
I have been so grateful for the help and support received from my volunteer. Life has been so difficult and without her support, caring and kindness I would never have managed to get through these difficult times.
Rising stars family group
Rising Stars is a weekly group for families which provides a safe and nurturing environment where children can play and learn together, and parents can meet other parents. It aims to reduce isolation, encourage social interaction, help to build stronger parent-child attachment, support early learning and development through play, and increase parents’ skills and confidence.
The group meets on Friday mornings and there is no charge for families to attend.
Rising Stars sessions are always a lot of fun with a wide variety of activities on offer including:
- Healthy eating and cooking
- Arts and crafts
- Songs and rhymes
- Physical activities
- Books and stories
- Food growing
- Childsmile (child dental health)
- Bookbug
When parents leave us, they take away enhanced parenting capacity, improved self -confidence and practical coping strategies – all essential skills for modern family life.
I just feel so welcome when I come to group. I just love it
Evening stars parent peer support group
Our Evening Stars group meets every Tuesday at 8pm via Zoom. Each session lasts around 45 minutes and includes discussions and activities, as well as plenty of opportunity to catch up socially. There is no charge for parents to attend.
The group provides a safe space for parents to share experiences, concerns and anxieties; and to get information, advice, support and reassurance from staff, volunteers and other parents.
The first time I went to Evening Stars I just cried through the whole meeting. But I could hear what other parents were saying and I realised that I wasn’t the only one struggling to cope and that I didn’t need to feel ashamed. It really helps to know that we’re not alone in struggling with family life, especially during the pandemic.
Recipe for life
Our Recipe for life project provides families with advice and support on healthy eating. It helps families with:
- menu planning
- budgeting and food shopping
- practical cooking skills
- using leftovers and reducing food waste
- preparing and cooking foods for weaning
- breastfeeding
- achieving and maintaining healthy weights for children
We’ve been able to try different ingredients, making healthy nuggets, salads and wraps. We have tried different meals that are very healthy, have been adding more fruit and veg to meals. It’s been extremely helpful and I’m making things I wouldn’t normally do.
Perinatal peer support groups
More than 1 in 5 women will experience mental health difficulties in pregnancy or during their baby’s first year. Men may also be more vulnerable to mental distress and illness at this time.
Our Perinatal Peer Support Groups project has been developed to create a safe and nurturing environment where parents affected by perinatal mental health issues can get help and support.
Peer support is when people use their own experience to help each other. Research has shown that peer support is very effective in helping parents who are experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties.
Our groups are open to families living in Aberdeen who are either pregnant or have a child aged under one year.
How to get support from us
Anyone who lives in Aberdeen and has at least one child aged under 5, or is expecting a baby, can come to us for help.