Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Official Report 882KB pdf

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Home-Start Glenrothes 21st Anniversary

The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-16374, in the name of Jenny Gilruth, on Home-Start Glenrothes turns 21. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament congratulates Home Start Glenrothes, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary in 2019; welcomes the support that it has provided over the years to help families with young children build better lives; notes that it supports between 60 and 70 families at any given time; acknowledges that the Home Start model relies heavily on volunteers to do the work; understands that the assistance that it offers is tailored to each family and can include one-to-one support for parents; notes that the charity’s work also includes running mindfulness classes and family support and respite groups, providing parents with support with budgeting, teaching cookery skills and its Bookbug session, at which parents read and sing with their children, and wishes Home Start Glenrothes the very best of luck with its work.

17:07  

I thank colleagues from across the chamber for supporting the motion in my name. I also welcome the representatives from Home-Start Glenrothes who have joined us in the public gallery and look forward to seeing them all at the reception this evening.

Three years ago, almost exactly a month after I was elected, I visited Home-Start Glenrothes at its base in the Macedonia area of the town. I will always remember the feeling that I had when I walked into the community house, which was one of support and empathy. It was also one of persuasion, because, just a few weeks later, I found myself running the Glenrothes 10k in aid of the organisation and the vital work that it does.

Home-Start Glenrothes was founded 21 years ago. Locally, it trains volunteers and experts to support between 60 and 70 families in the area at any one time. Across the United Kingdom, the organisation’s 13,500 volunteers support more than 27,000 families and 56,000 children. Home-Start works across my constituency to support families who are struggling because of social isolation, poverty or poor mental health. None of us can predict what life will throw our way—whether it be illness, disability or bereavement—and Home-Start works to take the pressure of such factors off families who are in need.

Ahead of the debate, I spoke to our local Home-Start co-ordinator, Lindsey Brown, who told me:

“I’m a great believer that your postcode cannot dictate what your future holds. We work in Glenrothes to give people opportunities. We have two mums who have just completed their college qualifications through a partnership with Fife College and we have four more with interviews next week. I know that this might sound like rose-tinted spectacles—but it really is our job to help them be the best they can be.”

Any member who know Scotland’s best new town well might know of Macedonia. There are real challenges in that part of Glenrothes, but there is also a sense of pride and community that is not found everywhere. Although poverty can be a key driver in determining which people Home-Start supports, it is important to say that supported families can—and do—come from all walks of life.

This week is mental health awareness week, and it should be said that poor mental health can play a crucial role in tipping families over the edge. As Lindsey told me, locally, there has been a huge increase in anxiety and poor mental health, particularly among younger people. That has shifted the focus of Home-Start’s support, with volunteers looking at the importance of teaching young people about their own self-worth. Indeed, the team has recently started a mindfulness class. It is fair to say that some had their doubts about how the class would work, but the mindfulness sessions are now well attended because people are starting to see the benefits of investing in their mental health.

The support that is offered is wide ranging. Another example is the provision of cookery classes to support families. I am reliably informed that one dad has managed to lose more than 2.5 stone after attending one of Home-Start’s eight-week cookery programmes in Glenrothes. From being someone who was living on takeaways and junk food, he became someone who was finally able to cook for himself. His daughter’s behaviour also improved, and it was all the result of his being taught the life skill of cooking.

In Glenrothes, the Home-Start team has also been able to tap into improving nutrition by developing a community allotment. As a result, it now has access to two raised beds at the back of Glenrothes high school, the produce of which will be used by the whole community. Home-Start has also been working in conjunction with the Princes Trust and Fife College to have the community house’s gardens transformed for the benefit of the people of Macedonia.

Home-Start is not a stand-alone organisation. Indeed, 33 per cent of all Home-Start Glenrothes’s referrals come from Fife Council’s social work department. As Lindsey Brown told me, Home-Start can get to where other agencies cannot reach because families do not see it as a threat. Home-Start offers a tailored approach to each family, giving compassionate, confidential help and expert support without judgment. That is one of the reasons why it has such a strong partnership with social work services and the local authority in Fife, which recognises the importance of the skills that Home-Start brings. It is about such partnership.

A large part of Home-Start’s work remains focused on the more traditional home visits, which are provided by volunteers. All volunteers are required to attend a 10-week programme or a preparation course before they are allowed to visit families’ homes. Home visits are crucial, particularly in the early days of someone having a new child, for example. The practical and emotional support that is provided allows families to maintain their dignity even when they are dealing with very personal difficulties. One of the key ways in which the Scottish Government has supported families at that important time is through the baby box. I hope that members across all parties can reflect on that policy as being hugely significant for families at an important time.

What it means to be a family has changed in the past 21 years. Indeed, right now, we have a cabinet secretary on paternity leave, which sends a powerful message about 21st century Scotland. When my mum brought up three girls in the 1980s, she had no choice but to forfeit her career—it was expected. We now have a much healthier view of the roles and responsibilities in a family, and the work of Home-Start supports mums and dads in taking those on.

Across the chamber, irrespective of party allegiances, we all want the next generation to be given the start they need in life not just to grow but to thrive. Home-Start focuses on the early years as those that make the biggest impact. As it notes:

“Children who are raised in a stable, loving, family environment are more likely to have a positive and healthy future.”

We know that the formative years between 0 and 3 are the ones that make the difference, so Home-Start makes interventions to support families at that crucial time.

Getting it right for every child starts with organisations such as Home-Start. It starts with making tiny changes to support families by teaching them how to cook, for example. It starts by giving parents the knowledge to understand what benefits they might be entitled to. It starts with supporting families that are struggling with poor mental health.

Before closing, I just want to say that Home-Start Glenrothes is always looking for volunteers, and I encourage constituents in the Glenrothes area to get in touch if they would like to play their part in supporting the work of the charity.

Home-Start Glenrothes is based at the heart of the community. The work that it does in Glenrothes and beyond is vital to families in my constituency. I pay tribute to Lindsey Brown and her team of amazing staff and volunteers, and I wish them continued success for the next 21 years and beyond.

I understand why people in the public gallery wish to applaud, but it is not permitted in the public area.

17:14  

I congratulate my colleague Jenny Gilruth on securing the debate this evening. She explained eloquently the important role that Home-Start Glenrothes has played in the lives of countless families in the past 21 years. I commend all involved, staff and volunteers alike. It is good to see them joining us here tonight. All that I can say echoes Jenny Gilruth—here’s to the next 21 years and beyond.

It will come as no surprise that, as the MSP for the Cowdenbeath constituency, I wish to congratulate Home-Start Cowdenbeath on all the work that it has done since it started up in July 1990. Home-Start Cowdenbeath will be just a few years behind Home-Start Glenrothes in celebrating its 21st birthday, and we all look forward to that in a couple of years’ time.

Home-Start Cowdenbeath, which has an office on Cowdenbeath High Street—diagonally across from my constituency office, in fact—serves the area covering Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill, Glencraig, Lochgelly, Lumphinnans, Kelty, Hill of Beath, Crossgates and of course Cowdenbeath itself. Its focus is on enabling parents and carers to be the best that they can be, in recognition that there are a lot of pressures on parents, and particularly on young parents.

Home-Start Cowdenbeath adopts a very person-centred approach in the family support that it offers, which can include one-to-one support around perinatal mental health problems, increasing breastfeeding through local support groups, and getting children into the outdoors through, for example, the promotion of gardening activities.

Home-Start Cowdenbeath seeks to get fathers involved in antenatal workshops and, in general, recognises how important it is that fathers are part of the process from the outset. Home-Start also seeks to tackle loneliness and isolation, particularly among young mothers. Groups are run specifically for under-25s, to provide a forum where young mothers can chat freely and hopefully gain some confidence.

However, it is important to note that home visits remain at the heart of what Home-Start does. After an initial meeting with the family to discuss their specific needs, Home-Start will match the family to a volunteer. The help that is given is unique to that family and will depend entirely on the circumstances of the case, and a decision on what is needed for that family. A key element is building the family’s resilience so that they are better able to cope in future with the challenges that they face. Sadly, many challenges are faced today, particularly by young parents, in my constituency and that of Jenny Gilruth, and indeed across Scotland, further to the great difficulties that Tory austerity is inflicting on our population.

At the same time, Home-Start volunteers play a pivotal role in helping families to access local services such as housing, or mental health services. As Jenny Gilruth said, that is very important. Home-Start helps families with access to children’s centres and health services, and to citizens advice bureaux, which can, for example, help families to obtain financial advice. The volunteer may even look after a child to allow the parent to attend relevant appointments, or they may help with transport, so that the parent can reach the service that they need.

I pay tribute to the staff of Home-Start Cowdenbeath, who I had the pleasure of meeting some months ago. I was hugely impressed with their dedication and determination to make a positive impact. Those workers do a very challenging job, and it was clear that it is also emotionally draining; they do it extremely well and make a huge difference to the lives of many families in my constituency. Finally, I also pay tribute to Home-Start’s fantastic army of volunteers, without whom all of that great work would not be possible.

17:18  

I thank Jenny Gilruth for bringing this members’ business debate to the chamber, and I am grateful for the opportunity to take part. It is right and proper that we congratulate Home-Start Glenrothes on reaching its 21st anniversary this year and I am delighted that we have individuals from that organisation in the gallery this evening.

I very much welcome the support that Home-Start has provided over the years to help families with young children to build better lives. My first association with Home-Start was back in 1999, when I was elected as a councillor in Perth and Kinross. In my capacity as vice-convener for housing and health, I met staff and volunteers from Home-Start Perth. I was a regular attendee at many of its meetings and spoke at a number of its events. Back in 2017, I was delighted to visit Home-Start Clackmannanshire, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018.

Home-Start is a charity that embraces many of the values that I and others can concur with and which continues to offer support and encouragement for individuals. I understand that Home-Start relies heavily on volunteers and that the assistance that the charity offers, which is tailored to each individual family’s needs and requirements, is vital. It also supports families in groups, and provides opportunities for trips, events and parties, and access to services.

We have heard how Home-Start can help people with their mental health and wellbeing, with cooking classes and access to allotments. Such things allow individuals to expand their potential and give people the opportunity to support the individuals whom they look after.

As many of us know, the years from a child’s birth to when they go to school are a vital time for their development, and the environment in a family home can strongly determine the opportunities and life chances that many children are presented with. It is well known that children who are raised in a stable and loving family environment are much more likely to have a positive and healthy future. Home-Start’s home visits are vital to engaging with individuals who may have difficulties or a crisis to manage. Through home visits, Home-Start can support people through that.

Home-Start works extremely well in ensuring that many of its volunteers are parents who understand the difficulties that people are suffering and who can protect and support service users. Volunteers work alongside parents in their own homes to help them to cope with the stresses and strains of their life experiences. Home-Start volunteers make a huge contribution. They help with the skills, confidence and strength that are needed to nurture and support, which ensures that people are protected. Home-Start excels at that support. I congratulate and commend it for all the work that it does.

I have followed and highlighted many of Home-Start’s recent successes, and I have lodged parliamentary motions that have helped to highlight the fantastic level of help and support that some of the organisations have received. I will continue to offer my support and encouragement to Home-Start across my Mid Scotland and Fife region. The work that is being done in Perth and Kinross, Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Fife is making a real difference for individuals and families, and that should be commended.

Organisations such as Home-Start are needed more and more because of the hectic lifestyles of many individuals. They support, nurture and ensure that there are life chances and opportunities to support wellbeing. Each and every day, volunteers and staff go the extra mile to ensure that families have a safe and secure environment that enables them to thrive.

I wish Home-Start Glenrothes all the very best in its 21st anniversary year. I know that it will continue to support with volunteers. We have to work together. The Scottish Government, councils and the third sector all have a part to play in ensuring that such work continues. I look forward to seeing Home-Start Glenrothes go from strength to strength.

17:22  

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate. I thank Jenny Gilruth for securing chamber time for it.

As an MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, I have visited Home-Start groups across my region. It is, however, a few years since I visited Home-Start Glenrothes. It was good to hear from Jenny Gilruth about its recent activities and the support that it continues to provide to families in the area. I add my congratulations and very best wishes to Home-Start Glenrothes on its 21st birthday, and I thank all the staff and volunteers who make the organisation what it is—a welcoming, inclusive and caring support for families with children.

All Home-Start groups offer support to families in variety of situations. They can provide valuable support to families that are new to an area and have no family locally, families that are struggling with poor mental health, families that are coping with bereavement and loss, and families in which there are child-protection concerns.

Home-Start Glenrothes is well known in its community; that is reflected in Home-Start groups throughout the UK. There are 32 Home-Start groups across Scotland, and Home-Start Glenrothes is part of a network of Home-Start groups in Fife. I am pleased to have visited Home-Start East Fife, Home-Start Kirkcaldy and Home-Start Levenmouth.

As well as including the 21st birthday of Home-Start Glenrothes, 2019 marks 25 years for Home-Start Kirkcaldy. As Home-Start Glenrothes does, it values its volunteers. I acknowledge the commitment of Mary McOuat, who has volunteered with it for 20 years. Her years of dedication to the organisation are reflected in the valuable commitment of Fiona Hastie and Elizabeth Coupe, who have volunteered for 11 years each.

All volunteers attend a preparation course. They are matched to the families whom they will work with, because the relationship is based on trust and understanding.

As well as doing one-to-one work, Home-Start groups offer a variety of activities. I am pleased that BBC Children in Need is supporting a family support group that Home-Start Kirkcaldy offers, and I recognise the organisations that support the work of Home-Start, as well as the fundraising efforts of its volunteers and supporters.

As Jenny Gilruth highlighted, Home-Start Glenrothes supports between 60 and 70 families at any given time. As part of its birthday celebrations, Home-Start Kirkcaldy is recognising that it has supported almost 1,000 families over the years.

The importance of the work of charities such as Home-Start in supporting families and children in Fife cannot be overstated. In the chamber, we have previously highlighted the work of Fife Gingerbread and the YMCA. On Friday, I visited Plus Forth Valley in Stirling, which supports children and young people who have a disability. They are but a few of the organisations that give families invaluable support and provide services that invest in families, help to build confidence and parenting skills, provide opportunities for young people, and much more. The work that they do supports the efforts of social work services, the health service and education and employment services, and can help to prevent people from reaching crisis situations, when they would need more statutory support.

The debate celebrates all that such organisations do, but we must recognise the financial situation in which they operate. Without them, there would be a greater strain on other services, yet too much of their time is taken up completing funding applications—which are often complicated, too short term and too project focused—and having to justify their value to overstretched local authorities, which are constantly looking to deliver less for more. Charities that provide valuable services in our communities face that common pressure. They are a resilient and determined group of organisations that face funding uncertainty, but still achieve so much.

Third sector organisations such as Home-Start can offer flexible, responsive and innovative support—for example, Home-Start Levenmouth has just started a pilot perinatal service, because it identified that a number of young mothers were experiencing mental health difficulties and it recognises that 80 per cent of its referrals relate to child or parental mental health.

Home-Start groups across the country often work at the sharp end of family services. They report that they are seeing an increase in the complexity of families’ needs and in the number of families who face several challenges. However, Home-Start groups consistently provide quality support, offer guidance and help to build healthy, happy and connected families. I thank them all very much for that.

17:27  

I am grateful to my friend and colleague Jenny Gilruth for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I look forward to attending the reception for Home-Start Glenrothes that she is hosting tonight. What better way to highlight the great work that Home-Start Glenrothes does than by celebrating its 21st birthday? Over those 21 years, it has given inestimable help to so many families.

We all want children to have the best start in life. The Scottish Government’s groundbreaking baby box and best start grants are testimony to our commitment to making that happen, as is our transformation of early years education.

However, we all know that children can be born into circumstances in which their parents need a bit more help in the form of practical and friendly support in their own homes to get them over the roughest times, and to level the playing field for their children.

Home-Start is a community network of trained volunteers and expert support to help families with young children through challenging times. Margaret Harrison started the organisation in 1973, and the first group in Scotland began work in Perth in 1984. Margaret Harrison believed that families are best supported in their homes, where support can be shaped to the entire family’s needs. She realised that if parents get support and friendship from another parent, they will be better equipped to learn to cope with the problems that life can bring, and will be able to give their children the best possible start.

As we have heard, Home-Start supports parents who are struggling to overcome their own troubled backgrounds in order to do the best that they can for their children. Home-Start sees at first hand the harm that children can suffer when they experience trauma, abuse or neglect at an early stage of their development. In many ways, its volunteers were at the forefront of the adverse childhood experiences movement before it even had a name, or the high profile that I am thankful it now has.

Home-Start has a community network of more than 1,000 trained volunteers, who support 3,000 families and nearly 6,000 children every year. That is pretty incredible. There are 31 branches in Scotland and the nearest one to my constituency, in East Dunbartonshire, is Home-Start Glasgow North, which is based in Maryhill and does a fantastic job. It deals with families who are struggling with postnatal depression, isolation, physical and mental health problems, loneliness, bereavement and many other issues. Such families receive the support of a volunteer, who spends about two hours a week in the family’s home to support the family in the ways in which they need support.

The volunteers are non-judgemental, friendly and professional, and support is tailored to the needs of each family. Much thought and care go into matching a family with the right volunteer. They also welcome dads, granddads and male carers who need support to join the group.

I will let the facts speak for themselves on the benefits of Home-Start: a survey of clients has shown that, after they had engaged with the service, 95 per cent felt that their child’s emotional and physical wellbeing improved, 93 per cent felt less isolated, 95 per cent felt healthier, and 94 per cent felt more involved with their child’s development. I do not think that any organisation could boast a better testimony than that.

Happy birthday, Home-Start Glenrothes. I thank all Home-Start branches for their amazing work to make Scotland the best place to grow up in.

17:30  

I, too, thank Jenny Gilruth for lodging the motion and highlighting the important work of Home-Start Glenrothes and the Home-Start network in Scotland. I am delighted to welcome some of its volunteers to the chamber—it is really great to have them here with us. I have had the pleasure and privilege of visiting many Home-Start projects across Scotland, and I have seen first hand the powerful work that its volunteers do—the service really is a lifeline for those who need help.

I take this opportunity to send Home-Start Glenrothes my best wishes for a successful parliamentary reception this evening—happy birthday! The reception, which takes place during mental health awareness week, will highlight the importance of perinatal mental health. Maternal mental health is a key priority for the Scottish Government. We know that as many as one in five women are affected by mental health problems in the perinatal period. In Scotland, that means 11,000 women are affected every year.

Being a parent is one of the hardest and most important jobs that anyone can take on. The challenges are even greater for families who are already coping with additional challenges in their lives, and Home-Start volunteers in Glenrothes and across Scotland make a vital contribution to supporting those families to achieve the best possible outcomes for their children.

It is the Scottish Government’s aspiration to make Scotland the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up in. The implementation of the national parenting strategy is key to driving that ambition, by championing the importance of parenting, by strengthening the support on offer to parents and by making it easier for them to access support.

We have made significant progress on the commitment to extend the provision of early learning and childcare by increasing provision of free childcare, and by further increasing it to 1,140 hours for three and four-year-olds from August 2020. We are improving antenatal and postnatal support, widening access to relationship support, developing the parent club website as a reliable source of information and advice for families, and continuing national play, talk, read and bookbug programmes, encouraging and supporting families to develop positive, nurturing relationships with their children from the very start.

By the end of last year, we had expanded the health visitor workforce by at least 440 since March 2014. We are also expanding the family nurse partnership programme by investing about £16 million a year, with the programme reaching up to 3,000 families at any one time. We also recently launched our much-loved redesigned baby box, helping to give every child in Scotland an equal start in life. All those actions make a real, practical difference for families.

Home-Start in Scotland is one of our key stakeholders and delivery partners in implementing the national strategy. It is funded by the Scottish Government through the children, young people and families early intervention and adult learning and empowering communities fund. In the four years that the fund has been running, we have provided just under £800,000 to Home-Start in Scotland.

We recognise the important role that third sector organisations such as Home-Start in Scotland play in supporting children and families across Scotland. In the last year alone, the Scottish Government has awarded more than £5 million to a wide range of third sector organisations that support children, families and communities. In addition, more than £2 million was invested in 2018 to continue funding national programmes that support children and families, such as play, talk, read and bookbug.

I am delighted that the Deputy First Minister recently announced the families and communities fund, which will provide up to £16 million a year. With a focus on early intervention and prevention and improving outcomes for children, young people, families, adult learners and communities right across Scotland, that three-year fund will provide more certainty and stability for third sector organisations to plan and deliver services.

Earlier, I touched on perinatal mental health, and, because it is mental health awareness week, I want to finish by highlighting our investment of £50 million through programme for government commitments. I hope that that shows that we are determined to improve the recognition and treatment of perinatal mental health in this country.

Stigma is still a reality for many women who experience poor mental health in the perinatal period. I want Scotland to be a place where it is okay for people to speak out about poor mental health after they have had a baby, and where women and their partners do not feel scared or ashamed to ask for help or talk about how they are feeling. I know that volunteers at Home-Start Glenrothes and Home-Start in Scotland make a huge difference to families, including by providing support for mental health issues.

I congratulate Home-Start Glenrothes again on its anniversary and wish Home-Start all the very best in its vital work supporting families in Scotland.

Meeting closed at 17:36.