Home-Start Portsmouth Groups

What is a Family Support Group?

As well as our home-visiting service, Home-Start Portsmouth also runs family support groups at a variety of Sure Start and Children's Centres around Portsmouth. Some of the groups are called 'Mums Matter' and these are designed for just mums to attend, but others are called 'Family Groups' and dads are welcome at these groups too. We also have a group that is mainly attended by mums that are suffering have have suffered from Post Natal Depression (PND).

The groups are lead by a member of Home-Start Portsmouth staff - a group facilitator - and run for 48 weeks of the year, which means they are open during most of the school holidays.

All of our groups last for 2 hours and are split into two halves.

In the first hour:

children are cared for in a crèche setting and parents go to another room for some 'me time'
parents get a chance to 'offload' by talking about their week
visitors may come to give advice and support on the topics that have been requested by the families
our group facilitators will 'point families in the right direction' if they can think of other services and agencies that might help
lots of tea and coffee is drunk!

In the second hour:

all of the families come together
parents find out about different ways to play with their children
the children get to interact with others, share equipment and make friends
there may be a craft / cooking activity for people to join in with
children are provided with a healthy snack
parents get to ENJOY their children

What families say

"It's a great opportunity to 'vent'"
"I love having that time with other adults"
"The activities are really fun"
"I have made lots of new friends"
"It has made me realise that it's not just me who finds things tough"
"It gives me something to look forward to every week"
"The group worker is really friendly"
"To me, it has been wonderful and has broken my isolation"

Can I join in?

As with our all of our services, you are very welcome to attend one of our groups as long as you have at least one child under school age and live in Portsmouth. Just get in touch and we can help you decide which group would be best for you.

(Unfortunately, if you turn up unexpectedly it is unlikely you will be able to join in as there will not be enough crèche spaces planned.)

Where and When?

Mondays:	12.30 - 2.30 @ Cumberland Children's Centre (Eastney Methodist Church)
Tuesdays:	9.30 - 11.30 @ Landport Sure Start Centre
Wednesdays:	12.30 - 2.30 @ Somerstown Sure Start Centre
Thursdays	12.30 - 2.30 @Paulsgrove Children's Centre
Fridays:	9.30 - 11.30 @ Brambles Children's Centre

Referring to a group

Referring families to one of our groups is done in exactly the same way as for our home-visiting service. Please see the referrers' page.