Home-Start Leith and Home-Start Edinburgh West have come together to create Home-Start Edinburgh.
Two Edinburgh charities have announced a merger aiming to raise their voice against poverty and underline the impact of their work.
Home-Start Edinburgh has been formed from the coming together of Home-Start Leith and Home-Start Edinburgh West.
The new charity aims to raise their voice against poverty and show the impact that can be made by supporting parents effectively and professionally without judgement through their network of highly trained volunteers.
The merger will be formalised at a special launch party welcoming high profile politicians and speakers on child welfare during Challenge Poverty Week, which kicks off on October 3.
Eliza, manager of Home-Start Edinburgh, said: “Parenting is an incredibly hard job, and the added financial pressures families are currently facing are pushing many families to the edge of coping.
“We surveyed our families and 91 per cent said they felt worried about their finances in the next few months.
“Our home-visiting volunteers offer a vital lifeline for parents to share their worries at this challenging time.”
The launch event is hosted during “Challenge Poverty Week” to highlight the issues of families and children facing poverty and isolation.
Challenge Poverty Week is an opportunity to demonstrate the many activities, charities, social enterprises and people coming together to tackle poverty across Scotland.
Christine Carlin, Scotland director for Home-Start UK, said: “Being a parent can be challenging and never more so as we emerge from a pandemic into a cost of living crisis.
“We know that the support our wonderful staff and volunteers offer to families is life-changing for parents and importantly also for their children.
“The opening of Home-Start Edinburgh will enable their highly trained staff and volunteers to reach more families at a time when that help is never more needed.”
Robin Black, chair of the board of trustees, added: “We spoke to our stakeholders – the families we help, our staff and volunteers, our funders and our partner organisations – and all were supportive of a merger seeing the benefits and simplicity of one city wide charity.
“A financial analysis illustrated the cost benefits of the merger as we build additional scale and eliminate overlap.
“Yet, by far the biggest consideration was that creating an Edinburgh wide charity offers a wider area of operation and the opportunity to help more families living in challenging circumstances.”
