Dad Matters – Salford 

Dad Matters is here for fathers with partners expecting or having a child under two years old and who live in Salford.  We specialise in supporting dads in areas such as attachment, mental health, and connecting them to services through partnerships with maternity, health visiting, Family Hubs, and various early years support services.Dad Matters is fully committed to delivering one-on-one peer support. Our primary objective is to assist fathers in accessing essential services and information while enriching their understanding of their role as dads. This includes connecting fathers with resources and offering guidance to manage anxiety, stress, and promote awareness of mental health issues that can impact on us all.

Currently this service is provided by Home-Start Trafford, Salford and Wigan in Salford only, please contact Luke Smyth for support in Salford-  luke.smyth@hsts.org.uk

Please visit Greater Manchester Dad Matters website for information about Dad Matters support in Trafford & Wigan. www.dadmatters.org.uk/manchester

Counselling service – Trafford, Salford and Wigan

We provide counselling for families who are already accessing Home-Start support. This is a specific support service for mums who are experiencing a range of mental health needs and offers a Neuro-Affirming, Trauma informed, person centred & compassion focused approach. We provide up to 12 remote therapy sessions for families across Trafford, Salford and Wigan and our counselling is delivered by a integrative counsellor & psychotherapist.

The Imagination Library – Trafford, Salford and Wigan

We believe at Home-Start that every child should have access to books as they start their early education journey. We also know that for many families providing new books for their children isn’t always easy. That is why we are part of The Imagination Library, which is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading, by gifting age-appropriate books, free of charge to children from birth to age five.

Each month our families receive a new book, and our volunteers encourage the young children they support to read, enjoy and use their imagination through storytelling and books.

This project is open to all our families who already receive Home-Start support. Whilst our supported families receive these books for free, we have to continuously fundraise to enable our families to be part of the Imagination Library across Trafford, Salford and Wigan. 

PIMHs (Parent, Infant, Mental Health)

Our PIMHs project explores the crucial link between attachment and brain development in children during their first two years of life. These early experiences profoundly impact a child’s future mental health and relationships. We acknowledge that various factors can affect early relationships and parental well-being, including past traumas, external stressors, and the common difficulties of caring for a new baby. We offer support to anyone experiencing these challenges.

Our dedicated volunteers and staff undergo extensive training to support families facing mild to moderate mental health challenges effectively. We provide support through engaging activities and resources that strengthen parent-infant relationships, enhance understanding of baby development, empower parents, and offer evidence-based parenting tools. We support the family by offering a weekly home visit, where our volunteers and Family Support Workers provide gentle relationship enhancing techniques.

We work closely with specialist Health Visitors and Early Attachment teams, such as PAIRS, BABS and TIPS. This support is available to families across Trafford, Salford and Wigan.