HEREFORDSHIRE Heartstart instructor Allan Holloway recently held a training demonstration for a group of new Home-Start Herefordshire volunteers. Volunteers do 40 hours of training, to learn the ethos of Home-Start and to get a better understanding of the situations that families face in today's world. The professional training is given by qualified staff at their offices in Hereford and includes a variety of topics, a major part of which is the Heartstart session. All topics help enhance the new volunteers knowledge which in turn gives them more confidence in helping families in need. Typically, volunteers visit a family for two to three hours a week in their own homes.

All non-profit making charities throughout the county know how hard it is to raise their profile and raise funds and Home-Start is no exception.

Coming up with new ways of making money is no different from any other charity, but Alison Jones marketing and volunteer recruitment coordinator for the charity would like to thank the volunteers for the support and hard work they have given her throughout 2014. "With the help and kind donations we have been given from our volunteers and supporters, we have managed to raise £3,656 to add to our core funds, by doing all sorts of different events including car boot sales, summer fun events, open gardens and many others. We are always on the lookout for fundraising opportunities, and pleased to hear about ways the community can support us locally."

To become one of our team all you need to be is a parent or have teaching/parenting skills and be free to come on our training course. If you feel you could help give support to a local family and would like to become a volunteer, the next preparation course will be starting on May 14. The course will run every Thursday for 10 weeks and will cover many different aspects of life. For more information on becoming a volunteer or a fundraiser please call 01432 371212 or email ali.homestart@gmail.com or homestartherefordshire.co.uk