Our history

Home-Start is one of the leading family support charities in the UK.
Home-Start volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face. We support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children.

Home-Start started in 1973. We were founded by Margaret Harrison who believed that supporting a family was best done in their home where it can be shaped to the needs of the family. She realised that if parents get support and friendship from another parent, they will be better equipped to learn to cope with the many difficulties life can bring, and will be able to give their children the best possible start to their own lives.

While this idea remains at the heart of our work, we have created new ways of helping parents and their children to meet the changing needs of families.

This idea that started in Leicester, spread across the UK and is now a movement around the world. There are now 22 countries on five continents that have Home-Starts providing support for families.

Margaret remained life president of Home-Start until her death in 2015