In the sixth episode of Season 9 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe interviews Shelley Roberts, CEO of Home-Start Manchester, an award-winning volunteer involving organisation. Shelley discusses her lifelong passion for supporting children, the impactful work of Home-Start in providing peer support for families with young children, and the challenges and successes they've faced.
Shelley shares inspiring stories of how Home-Start volunteers have made a difference, emphasising the importance of normalising the challenges of parenthood and the critical role of early years support. The episode underscores the tremendous impact Home-Start has on families' lives and offers insights on building successful volunteer-led organisations.
Did you know:
- The brain develops most rapidly before birth and during the first two years of life. Good health, good nutrition and nurturing are especially important during this time.
- Eighty per cent of human brain’s structure takes shape between the ages of 0-3 and the 90 percent of the human brain’s structure takes shape until the age of 5
- More than 200 million children under 5 years are not fulfilling their developmental potential.
- Early childhood offers a critical window of opportunity to shape the trajectory of a child’s holistic development and build a foundation for their future. For children to achieve their full potential, as is their human right, they need health care and nutrition, protection from harm and a sense of security, opportunities for early learning, and responsive caregiving with parents and caregivers who love them. All of this is needed to nourish developing brains and fuel growing bodies.
Key resource
Home-Start Manchester https://homestartmanchester.com/
Time stamps of key moments in the podcast episode and transcript:
(01:09) Interview with Shelley Robert
(01:29) Shelley's Journey and Passion
(03:01) Home Start Manchester's Mission
(04:46) Challenges and Overcoming Them
(07:35) Impact Stories and Volunteer Contribution
(17:51) Advice for Starting Similar Movements
Listen to the episode and read the transcript on www.meetthemancunian.co.uk