MEETINGS will be held in Watchet and Minehead next week to officially launch a pioneering scheme which aims to give help and advice to families of under fives.

The Home-Start project is backed by both national and local government and gives parents the opportunity to receive support, friendship and practical help at home.

Although Home-Start has been running nationally since 1973, this is the first time the scheme has been extended to cover West Somerset.

Primarily a voluntary organisation, Home-Start is run by a paid co-ordinator who takes on the responsibility of recruiting volunteers to run the free and confidential service.

Any parent with at least one child under the age five will be eligible for home-based support, which can take the form of anything from simple reassurance, to a shoulder to cry on or even practical assistance.

However, Home-Start volunteers are not babysitters or home helps, neither are they professionals.

They are volunteers trained by the scheme to befriend families to ensure help is at hand through weekly home visits.

A spokesman for Home-Start UK said: "Many parents feel exhausted and overwhelmed by the stresses of family life with under-fives.

"Some parents lose confidence in their ability to cope and most can remember days when they would have liked someone to turn to.

"Home-Start is a voluntary organisation, which offers support, friendship and practical help to families at home which children under five."

Families with multiple births, single parents, mums with post-natal depression, families with special needs or those moving to a new area will find the service especially useful.

Information about families using the service is never disclosed unless a child is deemed to be at risk.

The volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds, but all are either parents or have had parenting experience.

They are selected for their friendliness and understanding and must complete a preparation course before being linked with families.

The volunteers visit one or more families each week and are not paid for their work, neither do they replace social workers or health visitors.

There are some 6,500 Home-Start volunteers nationwide, helping to run more than 260 schemes.

The West Somerset scheme involves two forums - Williton and Watchet and Minehead and Alcombe.

Anyone wanting to find out more about the scheme - either as a parent wanting help or as a prospective volunteer - is invited to attend one of two launch meetings.

The first will be held in Watchet Baptist Church, in South Road, Watchet, on Wednesday, November 7 from 10.30am to 11.30am.

The second takes place on the following day, Thursday November 8, in Minehead First School, Townsend Road, Minehead, from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

More information is also available from the national headquarters of Home-Start UK on 0116 233 9955.