A start to get you finished

9:03am Saturday 12th July 2008

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Family support charity Homestart is helping people in all aspects of everyday life. SURUCHI SHARMA talks to a resident from Borehamwood who has benefited from the scheme.

Imagine opening your post and not being able to read the words in front of you, or looking at a phone number and not being able to dial.

These are some of the problems faced by Borehamwood mother of two Shaifta Sackett, who was diagnosed in October 2006 with a brain tumour when she was four months pregnant with her second child.

A routine appointment at her opticians found out she had a swelling at the back of her eyes and she was immediately referred to her GP.

That was on October 13, 2006. Three days later she had a seven-and-a-half- hour operation to remove the tumour at Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.

After returning home at the end of November, and now five months pregnant, she found adjusting to day-to-day life was considerably more difficult.

But with help by family support charity Borehamwood Homestart, Ms Sackett, 33, has turned a corner, both physically and emotionally.

The charity, based in Elstree Way, provides volunteers to offer support and friendship to parents in need through home visits and social events.

She says: "I was very worried when I got home how I was going to get through life. When my health visitor told me about Homestart I couldn't wait and was literally bugging them to get someone for me.

"It's a brilliant organisation and it's great for the volunteers to give their time to come into someone else's home to listen, help and give emotional support, as well as physically doing things around the house."

When Ms Sackett left hospital she returned home to find that her ability to read and work with figures had been affected.

She said: "The tumour made me dyslexic. I couldn't read and, although I am now a bit better, I still struggle.

"Post was piling up and I needed somebody to come in and sort me out for day-to-day jobs."

Ms Sackett received the help of volunteer and chairman of Homestart Samantha Davis, who began visiting in June last year.

Mrs Davis, 41, says: "This is the first family I have helped. I helped Shaifta open post and organise doctor's appointments. I would sit with her children if she wanted a bath or shower."

Mrs Davis became a volunteer after receiving a leaflet through the post. She adds: "I became a volunteer after more than 20 years in corporate life as a human resources director. I always wanted to do something like this if I had some free time.

"In Homestart we have 25 volunteers but we could always do with more. We have 17 families we are actively working with and eight we have seen through and signed them off. We are looking for volunteers who have parenting experience."

Volunteers receive a ten week preparation course that includes how to deal with a family, child protection issues and listening skills.

Mrs Davis says: "Not everybody that goes through the course ends up being a volunteer. As a volunteer you learn lots of different skills about yourself and how you apply those skills. What surprised me was how much I learnt about me."

Ms Sackett, who gave birth to her second son in March 2007, is now working with an occupational therapist to improve her reading skills.

She said: "I do not know what I would have done without Homestart. Samantha is like a best friend to me. She was the backbone for me and my family in keeping us together. Homestart got me going and put the wheels in motion after my operation by providing me with confidence.

"What they have done is give me the foundation to move forward. It's great to know that there is someone I can lean on."

To become a volunteer for Homestart, call 020 8953 5082.