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Monday 9am - 1pm Tuesday 9am - 1pm Wednesday 9am - 1pm Thursday 9am - 1pm Friday 9am - 1pm

Home-Start Cotswolds

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Home-Start Cotswolds

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Home-Start Cotswolds provides support to local families with young children who are going through a difficult time. Telephone: 01285 885391.

Home-Start Cotswolds is a local charity, which provides regular support, friendship and practical help for young families in the Cotswold District Council area. Each year Home-Start Cotswolds aims to support at least 60 families in the area. Our volunteers visit families weekly and work alongside parents, in their own homes, to help them cope with the stresses and strains of life. Home-Start works because our trained volunteers are parents and they understand how hard it can be to bring up young children.Our volunteers visit families weekly offering support, friendship and practical help. We support families experiencing issues such as loneliness and isolation because they have no family or friends nearby; family illness or bereavement; exhaustion and despair caused by the demands of several preschool children or multiple births. There are over 200 Home-Start schemes across the UK offering help to more than 32,000 families every year. If you would like to find out more, please visit our website.

04/11/2026

We’re delighted to let you know that Harriet Phillips has joined us as Patron at Home-Start Cotswolds.

Harriet announced her patronage as part of an exclusive interview with Hello! Magazine earlier this week and took the opportunity to shine a light on the work of our brilliant volunteers who support families across the Cotswolds. Harriet brings a wealth of experience to the role, having spent 24 years as a paediatric nurse in the NHS, as a mother herself and with strong links to the Cotswolds.

We would like to take this the opportunity to welcome Harriet to the Home-Start Cotswolds family and thank her for choosing to support our work.

To find out more visit the news page of our website.

Photo Credit: Copyright ©Daniel Kennedy

01/11/2026

Could you be the anchor in someone’s week? We are looking for new volunteers to join us, with our next training course starting in January, running on Friday mornings for 8 weeks. If you have parenting experience, 2-3 hours per week and the desire to support a local family, we’d love to hear from you!

We’re looking for parents to support parents through tough times, so if you’re reading this and thinking ‘I know just the person’ then please share it with them, your help to get the word out there would mean a lot to us 🥰.

You’ll find all the information on our website, including the dates of our training and our easy application form.

20/10/2026

Meet Hann, our Groups Coordinator...

15/10/2026

Could you be the friendly face a local family is hoping for?

As a volunteer, you’ll make a real difference to a family going through a tough time, and get so much back too. Many of our volunteers say it’s the highlight of their week.

You don’t need any formal qualifications for the role, if you’ve been a parent, you already know what matters most; kindness, understanding and a listening ear. We provide free training so you’ll feel confident supporting a family in their own home. In addition, you’ll learn alongside others who share your desire to help their community and become a valued member of our volunteer team.

Training: We ask that all new volunteers attend our full training course which will be held on...
- Friday mornings, 9.30am-1pm at a venue in Bourton-on-the-Water
- 22nd January to 19th March 2027 (no session 19th February)

☕ Want to find out more? Join us for a coffee at The Old Prison Cafe, Northleach, on Friday 13th November at 10.30am. *Please let us know ahead of time if you plan to come along*.

You will also find lots of information and application details on our website.

Know someone who’d be a wonderful volunteer with us? Please share this post if you have someone in mind. It’s a lovely way to help us find our next volunteers. Thank you! 🥰

02/10/2026

Have you thought about volunteering with us?

Our volunteers tell us it’s one of their most rewarding days of the week, supporting a family, being a steady, friendly face during a tricky patch, and watching things slowly get easier over time.

We run a comprehensive free training course, where you'll meet and learn alongside others who feel the same desire to help. By the end of the course, you'll feel confident to start supporting a family and be ready to make a real difference. No formal qualifications are needed, just the time to visit a local family for 2-3 hours a week, the empathy and understanding that comes from a parenting role, and the warmth and desire to pass a little of that on. We should also add that we are looking for volunteers from across the Cotswold district, although our office is based in Cirencester we support families all across the Cotswolds.

Our next training course starts in January, running on Friday mornings in Bourton-on-the-Water. If you'd like to find out more, further information can be found on our website, including a full role description and our volunteer application form. If you'd prefer to talk it through, please feel free to message or phone us and we'll happily run through it with you.

Please note that all new volunteers need to complete our training that we run once a year, the next dates are:

• Fridays, 9.30am - 1pm, Bourton-on-the-Water
• 22nd January - 19th March 2027 (not including half term, 19th Feb)

🥰

24/09/2026

It’s been a busy week! Our Baby & Me groups started in Moreton-in-Marsh and Tetbury - Hann and Janette had a lovely time welcoming new parents and their babies. In a couple of weeks’ time our groups will also be running in Lechlade and Bourton-on-the-Water and we’re so happy to welcome Emily to the team, who will be running those two groups this term. Emily has just recently joined us and brings a wealth of early years and groups experience with her – welcome to the team Emily! 🥰

20/08/2026

Such a lovely fun filled morning at our annual summer party today. A massive thank you to all the families who came along to join the fun, along with our wonderful volunteers, trustees and staff who helped to make it so special - just look at the cakes! We’ll post our proper thank you’s soon, as we had so many kind contributions to make it such a success ☺️

13/08/2026

Do you have a baby aged 0-6 months?

Our Baby & Me group will be starting Bourton-on-the-Water in October, and registration is now open! Over the course of 8 weeks, we cover topics such as sleep, feeding, play, communication and first aid. It’s also a chance to meet other parents from your local area and share experiences. We work hard to ensure our groups are always friendly, relaxed and welcoming, with a cup of tea and biscuit on hand.

Sessions start on 15th October, running on Tuesdays at 1pm – 2.30pm.

If you’d like to register for your free place, please email us with your baby's age and the location you are interested in (please note that places are limited and must be pre-registered as these aren’t drop-in sessions). We look forward to welcoming you and your baby!

BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER
Tuesdays, 1pm -2.30pm
15th October – 10th December (no session 29th October half term)
[email protected]

12/08/2026

The North Cotswolds Rotary Children's Clothes Bank have been a great support this summer, providing parcels of clothes for some of the families we work alongside in the local area. It's such a great community initiative and we're sending our thanks to Julie and the team for such a brilliant service, we know the clothes have been so gratefully received. Thank you to all involved! 😊

11/08/2026

Do you have a baby aged 0-6 months? Our Baby & Me group will be starting Lechlade in October, and registration is now open!

Over the course of 8 weeks, we cover topics such as sleep, feeding, play, communication and first aid. It’s also a chance to meet other parents from your local area and share experiences. We work hard to ensure our groups are always friendly, relaxed and welcoming, with a cup of tea and biscuit on hand.

Sessions start on 13th October, running on Tuesdays at 10.30am – 12.00pm.

If you’d like to register for your free place, please email us with your baby's age and the location you are interested in (please note that places are limited and must be pre-registered as these aren’t drop-in sessions). We look forward to welcoming you and your baby!

LECHLADE
Tuesdays, 10.30am -12.00pm
13th October – 8th December (no session 27th October half term)
[email protected]

Address

C/o Cirencester Baptist Church, Chesterton Lane
Cirencester
GL71YE

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 1pm
Tuesday	9am - 1pm
Wednesday	9am - 1pm
Thursday	9am - 1pm
Friday	9am - 1pm

Telephone

01285885391

Website

https://www.home-start-cotswolds.org.uk/volunteering-roles/, https://www.home-start-cotswolds.org.uk/news/, https://www.

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