Parents are being invited to help those struggling to cope by volunteering through Appoġġ agency’s Home-Start programme.

Volunteers are needed to help out families by supporting them in their own homes.

These families may be facing illness, multiple births, mental or physical disabilities, isolation or might only need assistance in parenting skills.

To become a Home-Start volunteer, the main prerequisite is being a parent or having direct parenting experience. Volunteers will be supporting families in need of assistance who have at least one child under five.

“Home-Start volunteers build a friendly and supportive relationship with parents.

“They give parents more opportunity to spend more quality time with their children since, during stressful times, this could be lacking.

“They also offer practical support such as accompanying parents for medical appointments and helping them organise better their household chores such as cooking, cleaning and budgeting skills,” Appoġġ said.

Training and support will be provided for volunteers. For more information call 2167 8043/ 2398 5111/9901 8398, send an e-mail to home.start@maltanet.net or fill in an online form on www.appogg.gov.mt by February 28.