About Us

Home-Start Blanchardstown

How We Started

Home-Start Blanchardstown was set up by Anna Lynch in 1988 and the first volunteers visited parents in their own Homes in 1989. This year we are celebrating 34 years of supporting families in the whole of Dublin 15 area.
We were originally funded as a pilot project by the National Lottery for 3 years. As this service proved to be a very valuable service to families of the Dublin 15 area, this recognition resulted in HSE now known as TUSLA funding Home-Start Blanchardstown to-date.
We are a registered Charity and our core funding comes from TUSLA. This means that we are commissioned to provide family support to parents of young children both in their own homes and in our respite creche here at Home-Start Blanchardstown. In 1998, with the help of the Department of Social Welfare, we purchased our own premises on the Blakestown Road.
  • 1988

    Start Up

  • 1989

    First Volunteers

  • 1998

    Purchased Our Own Premises

  • 2003

    Respite Creche Opened

Further Development

In 2002 Anna set up the National Office to try to expand Home-Start. Joan Ashbrook, who was a volunteer, took over the day to day running of the Blanchardstown Home-Start service. Cathy Kelly was the administrative assistant and was joined by Denise McQuaid in 2006. Sadly due lack of funding the National Closed its doors in 2008.

In 2002 we applied for and received a grant from The People In Need to build a creche facility. We also received the remaining funding from ECOP the European Union Funding to complete the project.

In 2003 we opened our respite creche. The creche manager is Ann Murray. Initially we opened for 3 hours a day but this soon turned in to 4 hours a day and then extended to the afternoons. Our service is referral based which can consist of Public Health Nurses, General Practitioners, Social Workers, other agencies e.g. Barnardo’s, Oakridge, Early Intervention and Self referrals.

As the creche is funded by the Pobal (Government Supporting Communities) Subvention Programme, we open from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm for children ages ranging from 4mths to 2.08mths and then from 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm for ECCE children ages from 2.08mths to 5years 5 afternoons a week. Our creche facility here at Home-Start Blanchardstown offers respite tailored to the needs of the family and his respite can be provided from 2/3 days up to 5 days if required.

In conjunction with our service, we offer the Parents Plus programme to all new parents. This allows the parents to make connections with peers, helping to breakdown isolation and build confidence.

Ann and her team are committed to ensuring that the needs of the child are continuously being met and are accessing the relevant services as needed both for Parents and children.

Joan Ashbrook has retired as Co-ordinator of the service after dedicating twenty-eight years to Home-Start both in her capacity as a volunteer and then moving on to be the Co-ordinator for the past eighteen years.

Cathy Kelly Kelly has retired as Co-ordinator of the service after dedicating twenty-seven years both in her capacity as an administrator and then moving on to be the Co-ordinator and Family Liaison for the past eighteen years.

Ann Murray stepped into the role of both Creche and Home-Start Service Manager in April 2019, continuing to support our Families and Team on a day-to-day basis.

Maria Byrne has been appointed as the new Co-ordinator for Volunteers and Family Liaison of our Service July 2023.

Niamh Smith oversees the Reception/Administration of the service commencing Dec 2021 to present.

Our Creche Team is made up of our Four Early Years Educator leads along with a fantastic team of both Community Employment and TUS Early Years Educators.
Julietta Ayegbusi – Lead Supervisor for ECCE
Emily Kiely – Supervisor for Early Years Crèche
Olufunke Are – Room Lead ECCE
Hasmik Babaeva – Room Lead NCS

We are also very fortunate to have the services of Suzanne Gutmann, Play therapist who is invaluable to our Service in occasionally working with the Children and Families of Home-Start Blanchardstown.

Under Our Umbrella

70

Children

47

Families

8

Volunteers

12

Home Supports

Meet Our Team

ann

Ann Murray – Manager of the Home-Start Service

Maria-ByrneWebSave

Maria Byrne – Volunteer Coordinator/Family Liaison

Niamh Smith Admin

Niamh Smith – Administrator

Julieta Algyebusi
Julieta Aiyegbusi – Lead Supervisor for ECCE
Emily Kiely

Emily Kiely – Lead Supervisor for the Early Years Creche

Home-Start Blanchardstown is proud to be a member of

Home-Start Worldwide 

Home-Start Worldwide (HSW), a UK-registered charity founded in 1999, is the coordinating structure of the Home-Start international network. It provides support to a network of Home-Start organisations in 22 countries on five continents, safeguarding the standards and the good name of Home-Start Worldwide, providing policy advice, facilitating the sharing of good practices, and supporting the development of Home-Start model in new countries.

For more information about Home-Start Worldwide, please visit www.homestartworldwide.org

Code of Conduct &

Child Safeguarding

“A code of conduct for employees defines the standards of behaviour expected of employees in order to ensure that: the charity is effective, open, and accountable; employees have
productive and supportive relationships with other employees, volunteers, and other persons who interact with the charity.”

Code of Conduct (Employees) PDF Document. Download Link On The Icon Below!

Child Safeguarding PDF Statement. Download Link On The Icon Below Coming Soon!

Home-Start Board Members

Chair Person: Annie Leddy
Treasurer: Kelly Marie Woods
Secretary: Georgina Traynor
Member: Ted Leddy
Member: Breda Hayes