A Message from our Current Chair
At Home-Start Stroud and Gloucester, 2025 marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter. We have a brand-new CEO and a team of engaged, passionate trustees, all committed to supporting families and children through those crucial first five years of life. Working through our dynamic team of staff and volunteers, we’re reaching more families than ever, helping young mums build life-changing support networks, meeting new dads in hospital as they navigate the first few hours of fatherhood, and supporting parents struggling with their mental health. We let them know they’re not alone. We offer practical help and, just as importantly, really good listening.
As statutory services continue to feel the strain, our work has never been more essential. We’re proud to partner with the NHS and a range of funders to support families through some of the most challenging moments in their lives.
I’ve been involved with Home-Start since its inception in 1999 and have had the joy of watching our impact grow year by year. I’ve seen parents helped become volunteers, volunteers become staff, staff become leaders, and I’ve had the privilege of working alongside an exceptional, committed team.
Now, after 26 years, I’m stepping away from Home-Start, confident that we’re in a strong position: reputable, resilient, and ready to grow.
We’re now looking for a new Chair to lead us into our next phase. This is a pivotal moment for the organisation. With exciting opportunities in corporate partnerships, individual giving, and a rising demand for our services, we know the right person is out there, someone passionate, forward-thinking, and ready to champion families and children when it matters most. As we always say: Childhood can’t wait.
We hope this information pack gives you everything you need to consider this opportunity, but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Warm wishes, Heather Cunild
Chair, Home-Start Stroud and Gloucester
About Us
HomeStart Stroud & Gloucester was founded in 1999 and now supports over 600 vulnerable families per year across the Stroud and Gloucester districts.
We operate through trained volunteers—offering practical and emotional home-visiting support to families under stress—and paid coordinators who supervise volunteers and work directly with families.
- Home visiting (weekly) to families in their own homes by highly trained volunteers who are supervised by our family coordinators.
- Bump-Start program: These ante-natal groups are informal sessions for vulnerable families referred by midwives to provide extra support on new parents’ pregnancy journeys. Sessions are activity based and cover a range of topics such as bonding with your bump, emotions during pregnancy and the baby’s development in the womb. We also offer telephone 1-2-1 sessions for families that will not be able to access the group either because of their mental health or because of logistical reasons.
- Best-Start program: These post-natal groups for vulnerable parents with 0- to 6-month-old babies are structured programs led by our highly trained group staff. Sessions focus on up-to-date advice on topics such as teething, first aid, supporting early relationships, play, baby massage, routines, self-care and sleep.
- Mothers in Mind (MiMs): This is a perinatal mental health program to support women affected by mental health issues in the first two years of their parenting journey. They are based on peer support, offering reassurance and support to women who are struggling to attend any other group.
- Play Start at the Arkell Centre: This is a term time only stay and play group for families based in a rurally isolated and deprived community in the Stroud District.
- Dad Matters Gloucestershire: a project to help dads have positive relationships with their families, supporting them with their own wellbeing and mental health. This is achieved by providing ante and post-natal groups for dads, offering 1-2-1 peer support, signposting and supporting dads to access services and information to help make sense of being a dad as well as by recruiting and training volunteers to provide peer support.
Our Values
- We strive to be a non-judgmental service that is professional and non-threatening in its approach.
- We aim to empower families with strategies that enable them to raise their children in a safe, positive and enjoyable way.
- We do this through being empathetic, supportive and honest in all of our interactions.
- We are committed to reducing inequality and promoting well-being in the communities that we serve.
- Home-Start Stroud & Gloucester is part of a federation of over 180 Home-Starts in the UK, granting us access to resources, shared learning, and additional funding sources.
- For more information, please refer to our website (homestartsd.org) and Annual Report 2024-25
Role Description: Chair of Trustees
Why this role matters
This is a unique leadership opportunity in a well-funded, professionally run charity supporting families and children as they hit crucial developmental milestones.
Time commitment & structure
Minimum 10 hours per month, including:
- 4 Board meetings per year
- 2 Trustee-only strategy sessions
- Hosting our Annual General Meeting
Term: 3 years (renewable once)
Location: Based in Gloucestershire to attend meetings and events
Key duties & responsibilities
- Lead a committed Board of Trustees with strong governance and inclusive decision-making
- Support and challenge the CEO, fostering a trusting and effective partnership
- Act as a visible ambassador in Gloucestershire and beyond
- Shape strategy and ensure the charity is well-resourced and future-fit
- Provide oversight in areas such as finances, fundraising, and CEO performance
Person Specification
We’re looking for someone who brings:
- Strong leadership and management experience, ideally in a Board or senior executive role
- A deep understanding of governance and strategy
- A collaborative style combined with the confidence to constructively challenge
- Passion for early childhood, social impact, or community work
- Excellent public-speaking and networking skills
- Experience in fundraising or corporate partnerships (highly desirable)
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and life experiences. We are particularly keen to broaden the diversity of our Board and strongly encourage applications from individuals with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, including people from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities, disabled people, LGBTQ+ individuals, younger people, and those with lived experience of the challenges faced by the families we support.
How to Apply
To express your interest in the role of Chair of Trustees, please email the following to Lynsey Pollard, CEO at lynsey@homestartsd.org
- Your CV
- A short covering letter (max two pages), outlining:
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- Your motivation for applying
- Your relevant experience
- How you embody our values and aims.
Application deadline: 17/07/25
Our current chair would be more than happy to chat to any prospective candidates about this opportunity in advance of the application.
Thank you for considering this opportunity. We hope you’ll help us continue to shape brighter futures for the families we support.