Mission Statement

Home-Start Malta offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children in various communities in Malta. To help give children the best possible start in life, Home-Start Malta supports parents as they grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children and widen their links within the local community.

The Service

Home-Start is a service that originated in the UK in the 70's. The service is run by trained volunteers who are monitored closely by the Home-Start organiser. The volunteers visit families and offer practical and emotional support. The service is targeted for families having at least 1 child under 5 years of age. Having a young child can cause a certain amount of stress for parents who may not be equipped to deal with the constant needs of the child. This situation could arise because of various factors - isolation of the parents, serious financial constraints, health reasons, and many others.

The service,  has been running since February 2006 and is managed by a management committee with the help of Appogg. HSBC Cares for Children Fund and Vodafone Malta Foundation provided the first two years of funding. Initially the  service was offered to  Cottonera since Agenzija Appogg already has community based services and a good network there. Due to various demands Home-Start Malta has been extended to other localities namely Zabbar, Fgura and Zejtun. It is hoped that, as the service strengthens, Home-Start Malta will expand to other communities.

The organiser, who is the principle worker in the service, selects, trains, monitors and supervises volunteers who have direct contact with parents referred to the service. Parents may refer themselves to the service, however referrals will also be accepted from professionals, members of the community, relatives or any other person with the knowledge of the persons being referred. Moreover, the service will only be offered on a voluntary basis, i.e. on condition that the parents are willing to accept the service, to accept the volunteer in their household and to work hand in hand with the volunteer on the agreed upon action plan.

Aims of the Service

Through the support of volunteers, specifically trained and selected and with personal experience in child care, the service aims to:

- Provide parent to parent support;

- Support parents to enable them to provide better care to their children;

- Empathise with the distressed parent and offer practical solutions related to child rearing;

- Offer such support to the parent that enriches the parent's attitude towards him/herself, thus gaining more confidence as a person and as a parent, and improving the bond with the child(ren) and the quality of child care;

This service ultimately aims to assist parents in developing the basic and necessary needs to care for their own children, thus decreasing the need for children to be removed from their own family when the parents are unable to offer quality care to their children., and to create a healthier and happier environment for the children to grow and develop.

For more information on Home-Start Malta one can call on 2167 8043/ 9901 8398 or email on home.start@maltanet.net.

For further information on Home-Start International please click here.

To view a leaflet about this service click here.

To view the latest Biennial Report for Home-Start Malta click here.