"There for parents when they need us most, because childhood can't wait"

Parents Supporting Other Parents - a simple idea that really works!

Home-Start Guildford has been supporting local families across the Guildford Borough for over 25 years. 

We're a non-judgemental organisations that helps local parents who are struggling, for any reason. Some of those reasons may include; multiple births, mental health, an abusive partner, isolation, mental or physical handicap, or the pressure that loss of employment brings to a family.

What we do

Our charity provides a preventative service that aims to support families who are struggling by offering regular volunteer support to parents with at least one child under the age of 5, usually referred to us by Health Visitors.

We provide one-to-one support for parents:
Our volunteers visit the family’s home for a couple of hours every week.  They tailor-make their support to the needs of the parents and children. Volunteers are very committed and will keep visiting until the youngest child turns five or starts school, or until the parents feel they can stand on their own two feet.  Parents and volunteers often develop a deeply trusting relationship which can lead to powerful change within the family.

We also run two family groups for referred families, one in the Pirbright Community Centre and the other in the Guildford Family Group, Hazel Avenue.

Our values

• We offer families choice
• We work in partnership - with each other, with families and with other agencies
• We work in a spirit of openness, encouragement and enjoyment
• We are flexible and responsive to the needs of families

Volunteering Opportunities 

There are several ways that you can help in a voluntary capacity:

• by supporting a family as a Home-Visiting Volunteer
• by helping at one of our Family Groups
• by joining the Trustee Board
• by becoming a Friend of Home-Start Guildford
• by supporting us as a Digital / Office Volunteer

Please see the volunteer roles listed for more detail.

The New Ashgate Gallery Trust is a charity specialising in the curation and promotion of arts and craft. Established in 1959, NAG has supported emerging artists and encouraged participation in community through free exhibitions, craft workshops and professional practice seminars.

We curate more than 20 annual exhibitions with some of the best artists working on painting, print, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, glass and wood.  

Mission, goals and values

Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) is a disability charity based in Surrey, with national reach. With more than 85 years’ experience of developing innovative services which support almost 10,000 disabled people a year to achieve their potential and increase their independence.

QEF works with children and adults with physical and learning disabilities or acquired brain injuries. They offer a wide range of expert services, whether it’s providing expert neuro rehabilitation to rebuild a life affected by brain injury, providing assistive equipment and specialist advice to increase independent mobility, or acquiring the skills to drive a specially adapted car.

Rowleys Centre for the Community  is situated in the heart of the centre of Cranleigh. We pride ourselves on being a community venue offering many additional advantages to the local community beyond the purpose for which it was initially intended.  Providing high quality services to maintain and improve the health and wellbeing of our local community is at the heart of what we do.

Purpose

Rowleys primarily offers a place for the older population to socialise, keep physically active, stay connected and acquire new skills, which has a positive impact on their overall health and wellbeing and supports reducing social isolation.

Whilst our main aim is to promote the wellbeing of all older people and assist them in making later life a fulfilling and enjoyable experience we would like to ensure the Community Centre is open to all and available for other groups to utilise outside of the core offer.

The Spike Heritage Centre is one of the few buildings remaining from Guildford's Workhouse in the Poor Law era, which housed the forgotten classes of Victorian England.  The Vagrants and Casual Ward, known as The Spike was built in 1906 to house vagrants and low paid workers.  After the Poor Laws ended in 1929, it continued as a night hostel until the mid 1960s. The NHS took over the site becoming St Lukes Hospital, operational until the mid 1990s when the new Royal Surrey hospital was opened.  The majority of the workhouse site was redeveloped, but due to the efforts of local campaigners, the Casual Ward was saved and remains as a historic building with lots of stories to tell. Individual visitors and groups are welcome to explore this unique building with guides providing the insight about how the poor were treated in a bygone age. 

Whitmore Vale Housing Association offers services to people with learning disabilities and we work alongside them to achieve the most out of their life. Through supported living and residential care we can meet a wide range of needs, supporting people with a mild learning disability, to those who have profound and complex disabilities.