Education & Young People Health & Wellbeing 2025
Home-Start UK

Annual Report 2024/25

Home-Start UK is the national umbrella body for the Home-Start network, one of the UK's leading family support charities. Working through around 170 local Home-Start charities, the network provides volunteer-led home visiting and group support to families with young children who are struggling with a wide range of difficulties — including parental mental health, isolation, domestic abuse, poverty and neurodevelopmental needs. In 2024/25 the network supported 75,000 children in almost 60,000 families — the highest level of family support in recent history. The network faces ongoing challenges from rising costs and funding pressure, with some local charities closing and others merging to sustain services. Home-Start UK provides national leadership, training, quality assurance and strategic support to enable local charities to deliver high-quality, consistent support to families across the UK.

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Report snapshot
75,000 children supported in almost 60,000 families across the UK — the highest level of family support in Home-Start's recent history Key Metric 1
Network of around 170 local Home-Start charities delivering volunteer-led support to families with young children experiencing difficulties across the UK Key Metric 2
Rising demand driven by cost of living pressures, mental health challenges, domestic abuse, neurodevelopmental needs and overstretched statutory services — families presenting with increasingly complex and multiple needs Key Metric 3
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📋About

Volunteer-led home visiting (trained volunteers supporting families with young children at home); group-based support; outreach and community programmes; Flying Start and Families First partnership delivery (Wales); local authority and NHS health visitor referral pathways; Growing Minds and other early intervention programmes; network support, training and quality assurance for ~170 local Home-Start charities across UK

📊Key Metrics

75,000 children supported in almost 60,000 families across the UK — the highest level of family support in Home-Start's recent history Key Metric 1
Network of around 170 local Home-Start charities delivering volunteer-led support to families with young children experiencing difficulties across the UK Key Metric 2
Rising demand driven by cost of living pressures, mental health challenges, domestic abuse, neurodevelopmental needs and overstretched statutory services — families presenting with increasingly complex and multiple needs Key Metric 3

✅Key Outcomes

  • 75,000 children supported in almost 60,000 families — highest in recent history — demonstrating sustained growth in reach despite challenging funding environment for local charities in the network
  • Network consolidation ongoing: local charities merging to form fewer but larger organisations to sustain services; some closures (e.g. Home-Start Staffordshire Moorlands) reflecting pressures of rising costs and reduced statutory funding across the voluntary and community sector
  • Home-Start describes 'very challenging environment' for charities across the voluntary sector, with rising costs and funding pressure coinciding with increased demand — reinforcing the case for sustained investment in early family support

📍Geography

UK-Wide

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