Home-Start Norfolk: merger support and options review
Because of our work: Five Home Start schemes merged to secure a sustainable organisation that can deliver services and support to families.
Home-Start Norfolk is an independent charity managed locally but supported by a national organisation, Home-Start UK.
It recruits and trains volunteers, who are usually parents themselves, to visit families at home and offer them informal, friendly and confidential support.
Home-Start Norfolk supports parents as they grow in confidence, strengthen their relationship with their children and widen their links with the local community. Its work has a proven, lasting, positive impact on the development of children and the health and welfare of the family
We were commissioned by Home Start Norfolk to facilitate discussions around a possible merger of five local schemes into a County Wide organisation. The driver behind this work was a need to develop new ways of working, to become contract ready and to reduce costs.
Stage one: Understanding all five Home-Start schemes
We got to know all Norfolk’s Home-Start teams by running two workshops and five consultations with Trustees and staff. Group discussions gave everyone an opportunity to understand the benefits and barriers of merger better. They also created a forum to explore ways to develop closer partnership working and reduce costs.
Stage two: Options paper
Our research informed an options paper in which we outlined potential business models for Home-Start in Norfolk. We also worked with Trustees to develop an action plan that would allow them to implement their chosen model successfully.
Stage Three: Successful merger and a strong future.
Our report led to an agreement by all five schemes to merge under a new business model. This new way of working will allow Home Start Norfolk to maintain delivery of services to families across the county, while creating a more sustainable organisation.
“You delivered on time and provided us with useful documents to help us move our transformation forward……we appreciated your down to earth style and practical approach”