Families struggling to cope following the Covid-19 crisis have been given a potential lifeline in the form of a £1,500 donation from a rotary club to a Suffolk charity.

The valuable donation from Deben Rotary will help Home-Start in Suffolk recruit and train more volunteers who can offer emotional and practical support to parents, to enable them to look after their children.

The charity has been supporting increasing numbers of families cope with the pressures of parenting in some of the challenging situations, even before the pandemic broke.

But coronavirus heaped even more pressure on those already facing crisis, as the lockdown meant many faced more financial hardship and emotional difficulties.

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On top of that, Home-Start has faced its own challenges. Charities across the county have found it harder to raise the funding necessary for their work, because of the restrictions of lockdown.

As such, Deben Rotary president Richard Boother said the organisation was “pleased to support a local charity, who do so much invaluable work in our community”.

Tara Somers, chief executive of Home-Start in Suffolk, said: “We are truly grateful to Richard and all at the Deben Rotary for choosing to support Home-Start in Suffolk, particularly during this uncertain time.

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“Our organisation, like many charities, has had to suspend all our key fundraising events which would usually raise the vital funds needed to continue the work of our team.

“Donations such as this are so important, and we are thankful for all the support that the Rotary have given us.

“The current coronavirus outbreak has seen us having to adapt our services quickly.

“We believe that during this crisis and in-deed once this crisis is over the need for our services will continue to increase and we are therefore actively recruiting new volunteers, providing a new short-term online training course until things return to normal.”

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Those interested in joining Deben Rotary should email the group.

For more information about Home-Start in Suffolk, or to volunteer, visit the charity’s website or call 01473 621104.