A TAMESIDE charity is celebrating after it was given £75,000 by the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Home-Start HOST was handed the donation which was gathered as one third of players’ ticket price goes directly to good causes.
And after Dukinfield Rachel Lee won £405,000 when her address was named as the one receiving the £1 Million Millionaire Street prize, the local organisation benefitted.
Now the group, which is based in Audenshaw’s Ryecroft Hall but works all over the borough, will use it towards helping more local volunteers to provide support to parents and their children.
Home-Start HOST chief executive Sarah Cook said: “We are thrilled to receive this support. It came as a very welcome surprise!
“All front-line charities are in constant need of funding because life really is tough for people right now, and with more funding, charities like Home-Start can reach out to more parents who are struggling right now.
“We will be using this donation to continue to support our local volunteers who provide the vital emotional and practical support to families in their own homes.”
Home-Start HOST is one of Greater Manchester’s leading family support charities and volunteers are recruited and trained locally and are matched to a family who has been referred to Home-Start.
Alongside its home-visiting support for families, it runs a diverse range of projects for families, including infant feeding support, support for dads, (Dad Matters) and parent infant mental health support. This year they set up their first charity shop.
Sarah added: “We know there are many more families across Tameside who need help right now, and with more volunteers we could reach out to these families.
“If anyone reading this can spare just a couple of hours each week and would like to find out more about becoming a Home-Start volunteer, we would love to hear from you.”
Funding was raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and awarded by Postcode Community Trust.
To find out more, visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk and for more information about the work of Home-Start HOST please call 0161 344 0669, e-mail info@homestarthost.org.uk or visit www.home-starthost.org.uk.