Janet Hannay

Central to the creation of Home-Start Wigtownshire in 2000, Janet Hannay is quick to say that she was only partly responsible for the local initiative. “It was a team effort”, she notes, and I certainly do not want to take all the credit”.

Home-Start Wigtownshire offers support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children in local communities. The team recruit and train volunteers who have parenting experience themselves to visit families at home who have at least one child under 5, to offer informal, friendly and confidential support. During the seven years since the charity was founded, Jane has committed a huge amount of time and effort to ensure the continuation and smooth running of the scheme.

Before 2000, Janet worked in conjunction with multi-agency groups such as health visitors, social services, voluntary agencies and Home-Start UK. As a former nursery school teacher she has a keen interest in early years and the benefits of intervention and preventative measures at that stage of a child’s life. Her experience and skill in this field have been beneficial to the running of the scheme and ensuring good practise.

Janet believes strongly in the ethos of Home-Start Wigtownshire, 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. Home-Start Schemes are rooted in the communities they serve. They are managed locally, but supported by the national organisation: this offers direction, training, information and guidance and ensures consistent and quality support for parents and children wherever they are.

As a direct result of Janet’s contribution in her position as Chairperson and most recently Trustee, Home-Start Wigtownshire has gone from strength to strength since its inauguration in 2000. The number of families supported has risen to 50 annually. The impact of increasing numbers is that many more local families are able to cope better with the demand of family and home life. Parents gain in confidence and self-esteem and this has a knock-on effect to the children. Many families also now benefit from support they need to help them cope with problems such as post-natal depression, parenting a disabled child or recovering from substance abuse problems, which can often otherwise lead to a family breakdown and children having to go into care.

Within the local community, Janet is well respected for her work with various charitable organisations including The National Trust for Scotland which has been effective in networking and promoting activities crucial to the scheme. She has also mentored staff, ensured grants are spent effectively, given promotional talks and been responsibility for the continuing development of Home-Start Wigtownshire to benefit families with young children throughout the county.

“Mrs Hannay’s involvement in the project over many years has ensured it has continued to play a vital role in the community and has developed according to changing local needs.”

Tony Connor, Mental Health Officer

“I would wholeheartedly recommend Janet for this award – for her quiet, tireless, longstanding voluntary contribution to community life – and, in particular, for providing the impetus and the drive to establish such a valuable and worthwhile service as Home-Start Wigtownshire.”

Fiona Jessiman, Former member of Home-Start Wigtownshire Management committee

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