Spring Newsletter

Spring Newsletter

by | Jan 28, 2026 | Family Group, Family Support, News, Uncategorized

Winter Wonderland!

Well we really ended the year with a bang, so much activity and so much support from our partners!

The team at John Lewis & Partners kindly donated funds enabling us to provide Weaning Packs for families of young children; complete with hand blenders, freezer trays, recipes and guidance leaflets, the packs have helped our families on their weaning and healthy eating journey. We were also welcomed by the Chichester District Law Society to their annual Christmas dinner to host their raffle, raising nearly £1000 to help support families over the coming year.

Our families were once again invited by Seal Bay Resort Selsey for a swimming experience and the team at Chichester Cinema New Park invited our families for a free viewing of The Jungle Book! 

The festive season was our most successful yet, with thanks to The Media People who donated £4500 to provide support and opportunities to our families over the Christmas period.  Their generosity enabled us to host a Wreath Making Workshop for parents, take all our families to visit Santa at the Chichester Festival Theatre and host two family parties with a visit from our very own Santa!  In addition the incredible generosity of both V2 Radio and Chichester Harbour Rotary Club meant all the children we support received a Christmas gift.

……

What’s new?

We’ve begun the year with a focus on our parents, introducing an 8 week ‘All About You’ course.  The course is run by our volunteer Lynne Healey who is a complementary therapist and life coach and aims to increase self-esteem, confidence, motivation, resilience and aspiration amongst our parents.

We were delighted to receive funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund to enable us to continue and expand our services to families who are stationed at Baker Barracks on Thorney Island.  We understand that military families often have unique experiences and needs; we hope our engagement and support will continue to make a difference in their lives.

Looking forward we have a packed 3 months ahead:

  • Our next Volunteer Training course begins on 24th February, and it’s not too late to sign up
  • We’ll be visiting Seal Bay again to enjoy a fun morning of swimming.
  • Our parents will be taking part in a Spring inspired craft morning and,
  • Families will be visiting Harbour Tots thanks to Chichester Harbour Conservancy.
  • We are planning a series of fun events and activities to take part in the National Year of Reading, encouraging young and their families to enjoy books and reading together.

We’re excited for the year ahead but need the continued support of our community and partners to fund the work we do to ensure local families are able to thrive. Keep an eye out for our new Supporter’s Guide to see how you can get involved!

A young woman holds a smiling baby
Generous support for military families from the AFCF

Generous support for military families from the AFCF

by | Jan 13, 2026 | Family Support, Front Page, News

Home-Start Chichester & District were delighted to have been awarded £28,000 from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund to support Armed Forces families who have been newly relocated into the area.

Home-Start Chichester & District will be running a family group near to the Thorney Island Army Base, and when required, providing families with a home-visiting volunteer to provide practical and emotional support. Several members of staff at Home-Start Chichester & District have partners who have served or currently serve in the military. They know first-hand how difficult it can be when a partner is deployed, they’ve moved away from extended family and their friends, and they have young children.

Home-Start Chichester & District manager, Lois Rowlands, said, ‘We know that for many families life with young children is challenging. Things can be made more difficult when families are relocated as part of their military service. Often this means moving away from friends and family, who can provide those essential support structures. With this generous donation from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund we are hoping to make a real positive difference to the lives of serving forces families and their children. We are so grateful for this support from the AFCF.’

If you would like to find out more support from Home-Start for your family, you can contact us on 01243 773477 or email admin@home-startchichester.org.uk. If you’re ready for support you can use our Families’ Referral form.
Home-Start Christmas 2024

Home-Start Christmas 2024

by | Jan 7, 2025 | Events, Family Support, News

We had a wonderful Christmas here at Home-Start Chichester, thanks to the support of four incredible local organisations; Openreach, Dunelm, Waitrose & Partners and V2 Radio.

Their support, generosity and kindness meant that we were able to give all of the children we support a really special Christmas gift, and hold two fabulous Christmas family parties. 

Jason and his team at Openreach collected donations from colleagues to buy an incredible range of thoughtful presents that staff and volunteers wrapped for each of the children.

The Dunelm store in Chichester ran a ‘Giving Tree’ so that customers could donate the wishes of the children on the tree. So many lovely gifts were bought by the customers of Dunelm – managers James and Vicky were please to present all the gifts which filled up two trolleys!

Waitrose & Partners in Chichester generously donated towards the costs of the party food at our Christmas parties, which meant that all of the children and their parents had something tasty to eat. Waitrose also donated a raffle prize for every family at the parties.

 

The team at V2 Radio collected an amazing array of gifts for children, which meant that all of the children attending the family Christmas parties were given something specially chosen for them

Visit to Rogate Pumpkin Patch

by | Nov 21, 2024 | Events, Family Group, Family Support, Front Page

We were delighted to take our families from the North of Chichester District to Rogate Pumpkin Patch in October for a fun-filled day out.

The transport was kindly funded by Community Transport Sussex. Special thanks to Rogate Pumpkin Patch for offering free entry and a pumpkin to take home for every family.

The families were collected from Midhurst and taken by minibus to the Pumpkin Patch. Many of the families that getting to the Rogate Pumpkin Patch more difficult. The families had a wonderful time exploring all of the activities, enjoying the outdoors and making lasting memories for the children. We all sat together for a lovely snack time afterwards.

The impact of the trip was huge, with feedback from the parents suggesting that, for some, this would not have been possible without the support and generosity of our funders.

What parents said about the trip:

‘I was hoping that my little girl would fall asleep on the way home, but she was still so excited after the trip!’

‘Without Home-Start’s support, I would have been too anxious to do this alone.’

‘We feel confident to try this again with our older daughter now.’

Trip to Aldingbourne Country Centre

Trip to Aldingbourne Country Centre

by | Aug 8, 2024 | Family Group, Family Support, Front Page, News

As part of a NHS project to better understand the health inequalities that people with disabilities or families on low-income face in accessing activities that support their health & wellbeing, Community Transport Sussex worked with us to deliver transportation to families in the north of the district for a free family outing. We approached The Aldingbourne Country Centre who were kind enough to offer us a discount on the entrance fees so as many families as possible could afford the trip We also made an application via Hyde Housing’s online initiative ‘MatchMyProject’ for further support and were approached by Purdy Contracts Ltd who kindly offered to cover the total cost of the tickets with sufficient funds left over to treat everyone to a train ride! 8 families attended which included 10 adults and 13 children.  
The day was very successful, the children had fun playing in the soft play area, at the outdoor water and sand area and of course visiting and petting the animals. A picnic lunch was enjoyed together, and children made the most of the large hills by having rolling races down them! The trip was a wonderful opportunity for families to make friends and feel supported taking their children to a public space and witnessing how much their children enjoyed playing together with others. The impact of the trip was huge; for some this would not have been possible without the generosity of our funders; two families even felt confident that they could arrange a similar trip themselves in the future.  

What families said about the trip

“Now that we know about Book a Bus, we’ve arranged a trip to the beach in Bognor with another family we met!”  
My little one loved the freedom of running free and playing with the other children”  
“I was so nervous about coming today but my child had so much fun, I want to do more trips!”