Home-Start Wessex is delighted to have been shortlisted for the Patron’s Award for Charity Organisations in the nationwide BQF UK Excellence Awards 2026.
The BQF UK Excellence Awards highlight the success of organisations and people that demonstrate excellence in innovation, leadership, sustainability, customer service, the community, and more. The Patron’s Award for Charity Organisations recognises the people and organisations doing amazing work to support their communities and make a difference every day.
Home-Start Wessex offers friendship, practical support, and emotional advice to parents in Dorset with at least one child under five who are in crisis, providing specialist groups and one-to-one home visits. Supported families are struggling for a variety of reasons, including poor mental health, postnatal depression, disability, domestic abuse, bereavement, isolation, financial hardship and multiple births. Over the last year, the charity has transformed 1,716 lives, helping a record 526 families.
Kathy Fryatt-Banks, Chief Executive at Home-Start Wessex, said, “Wow! We are so incredibly proud to be one of just four finalists selected for this prestigious national award.
We have supported local families across Dorset for over 30 years, growing from 10 families in 1995 to over 500 in 2024. In the past few years, our amazing team has worked so hard through times of adversity to ensure we can support more and more families in need. We have trained more volunteers than ever before, with over 100 dedicated volunteers now giving up their time to help local families, and we have increased and diversified our staff team, now employing more than 25 specialist and passionate staff. This year, we have increased our group support across all localities in West and East Dorset and opened our first Family Charity Shop and Support Hub in Christchurch.
Getting to the final is a huge accolade and provides the whole team with such fantastic recognition for all the hard work that has gone into making life-changing differences to local families. We will be keeping our fingers crossed for the awards ceremony and wish all the other shortlisted organisations the best of luck.”
The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony on 8th October at Wembley Stadium, attended by companies and organisations from across the UK.
Home-Start Wessex is actively recruiting kind, compassionate volunteers to offer emotional and practical support to parents with young children in Wimborne and across Dorset. If you could spare a few hours a week to help local families through challenging times and make a difference in your community, please contact [email protected]. No experience is needed – just a big heart and a listening ear, as full training and ongoing support are provided.
