Speaker Joanne Roddam, Homestart East Fife

The speaker at the 11th October meeting of the Rotary Club of St Andrews Kilrymont was Joanne Roddam, Manager of HomeStart East Fife.  Joanne asked members to think about what a family looks like and highlighted the many different types of family - nuclear, lone parent, extended, step families, grandparent families.  HomeStart works with all families as long as there is one children below the age of 5.  The families supported by the volunteers have a wide variety of needs with isolation, parental well being and low self-esteem among parents being the most significant in East Fife.  HomeStart matches a volunteer with each family and that volunteer visits the family in their own home.  The average length of time that a volunteer works with a family is 18 months, although it may continue as long as there is the need and a child under 5.  Families also attend Family Groups where the interaction and activities help both parent and child. 

One recent development was that HomeStart East Fife, which is based in South Street, St Andrews, received funding from the Anti-Poverty Trust to which families could apply to help with outings, often to mark special occasions.  The type of outings approved, included trips to Edinburgh Zoo, Blairdrummond Safari Park, a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine and contributing to the costs of a family going to Leicester to celebrate Eid with the Muslim community.  The families report back to HomeStart East Fife who pass on the information as part of the accounting process to the Anti-Poverty Trust. 

There are also family outings organised by HomeStart East Fife to local places e.g. Cambo Estate.  Then there is the Christmas party which is sometimes the only party for some of the families.  With contributions from local groups - Anstruther and Crail churches, Hope Park and Martyrs church, Kilrymont Rotary club, St Athenase church and Storehouse - HomeStart organises this Christmas buffet with presents, selection boxes, a bag of groceries and it is one of the highlights of the year.  There are many other activities during the year which are made possible through the generosity of other groups in the community eg. Kate Kennedy volunteers, St Andrews Botanical Gardens, MUSA Young Artist and even a visit from the Tooth Fairy. 

HomeStart supports about 40 families at any one time but could help more families, if there were more volunteers. Families often have complex needs and are referred by various agencies - health workers, CPN, GPs, Social Work as well as self-referral.  The only stipulations are that there must be one child under 5 and the family must agree to the referral. 

Isobel Clifford thanked Joanne for an interesting and informative talk.

The members of the Club also wished James Yule good luck for his trek along part of the Great Wall of China to raise funds for Kidneys for Life.