Home-Start believes that children need a happy and secure childhood and that parents play the key role in giving their children a good start in life and helping them achieve their full potential. The principle objects of the charity are: ■ To safeguard, protect and preserve the good health, both mental and physical, of children and parents of children ■ To prevent cruelty to or maltreatment of children ■ To relieve sickness, poverty and need amongst children and parents of children ■ To promote the education of the public in better standards of child care within the area of Crawley, Horsham, Mid-Sussex Our Approach Home-Start CHAMS offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children in the local community. We have been working with families in Crawley and Horsham since 1998 and in Mid Sussex since 2008. We offer a unique service recruiting and training volunteers, who are usually parents themselves, to visit families, who have at least one child under 5. Volunteers offer informal, friendly and confidential support to enable parents to grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children and widen their links with the local community. Support is tailored to the individual needs of each family in the security of their own home. The same volunteer visits the family each week ensuring reliability and consistency. This enables a trusting and supportive relationship to develop.