
Since the coronavirus outbreak and being restricted to working remotely, the Home-Start team have been hard at work securing essential funding to enable us to continue supporting families in our local area.
At the end of March, we made an appeal to our local community calling on them to help “Save Home-Start” so we can continue to support local families towards a brighter future.
With fundraising campaigns such as ‘Donate a cuppa’ (which enables a person to donate the price of a cup of tea or coffee by text), Giving Tuesdays (where we share activities each week for everyone to get involved in) and ‘Become a Home-Start Hero’ challenge (where we asked our supporters to join in the 2.6 challenge which took place instead of the cancelled London Marathon), there are many ways in which supporters can help.

We have been totally overwhelmed with the support that we have received from organisations, companies and individuals – who have all come together to support Home-Start since the lockdown began.
This funding has been essential in enabling us to keep in touch with families by offering weekly phone and/or video support from staff and volunteers, as well as running our 2 family support groups in an online way.
We would like to say a massive “Thank You” to as many of the incredible supporters as we can, including*:
- SureSafe Ltd
- Johnson Matthey and their employees
- Friends of Royston & District Healthcare
- HSUK emergency coronavirus fund
- Movement for Good
- The Tudor Trust
- Hertfordshire Community Foundation
- Cambridgeshire Community Foundation
- South Cambs District Council
- NFU Mutual Royston
- BBC Children In Need
- Tesco emergency fund
- Local councillors serving the areas we cover who have supported us by making grants from various emergency funding pots, regular funding pots and signposting to other funding opportunities
- Individuals who have supported us through our 2.6 Virgin Money Giving campaign
- Sophie who shaved her head
- Charlotte who is making chocolates
- Linda who is making music
- Claire who is running the London Marathon….still!!
- People who have given us one-off, individual donations in response to our appeals, set up regular monthly donations or used their creativity to make and sell items such as face masks.
- Those people who are supporting us by using Easy Fundraising, Amazon Smile or buying a ticket for the East Herts Lottery.
- And, anyone else who has supported us to achieve our funding target.
With the money that has been donated to date, we know that we can continue to support families through this crisis and ongoing into the future, as things begin to very slowly change.
But, we cannot be complacent, and with a fundraising target for 2020/21 set at a significant £165,500, we must continue to work hard to achieve this goal to enable us to reach as many families as possible who need our support now more than ever!

