DEPRIVED families living in an "area of high need" will receive help from a charity that was forced to close down its Bury service eight months ago.

Home-Start Bury had to cease operating in May this year, citing "a reduction in statutory funding" as the reason behind the decision.

At the time, Home-Start in Bury, Bolton and Rochdale had been working together under a Reaching Communities grant, provided by the National Lottery, to support hundreds of families across all three areas.

Now the Lottery has agreed to reallocate almost £42,000 of funding from Home-Start Bury's funds to Home-Start Rochdale, to enable the charity to work alongside families in East ward, Bury.

The support will centre around early learning for children under five.

Donna Arden-McKenna, manager of Home-Start Rochdale, said: "The closure of Home-Start Bury earlier this year was devastating for both families and volunteers. We hope that once more, in time, we’ll be able to re-engage with old volunteers and recruit and train new volunteers too.

"The closure left many families in need of help for a range of reasons, including poverty, poor mental health, illness and disability and domestic abuse.

"We are delighted to be able to offer a Home-Start service once again to some of Bury’s most vulnerable families, and this is thanks to the understanding from the Lottery as to the need of the charity in Bury and for their commitment towards our work."

Home-Start Rochdale said they will be working with families within East ward — "an area of high need, where many families are

struggling to cope on a daily basis."

Greater Manchester Combined Authority estimates that 12,000 Greater Manchester children — more than a third — start in Reception without the skills to learn, including speaking in full sentences, holding a book or using the toilet.

Home-Start Rochdale will be working with parents to empower them and build their confidence in the early learning of their children, so that they are given the best possible start in life.

Ms Arden-McKenna said: "Across Greater Manchester, Home-Start’s vision is to make sure that every single family who needs our support has access to it, so having a project operating in Bury once more, means that we can continue to deliver on our vision.

"If we can access further funding after April 2020, then our intention is to widen the service to many other families living in Bury.

"We may also look to have an office base within Bury in the near future should the opportunity arise. I would welcome conversations with Bury’s stakeholders to see how we may be able to work together, not just with our school readiness project, but our parent infant mental health work too."

Since the closure of Home-Start Bury, a small number of families and volunteers have been supported by Home-Start Rochdale.

To find out more about volunteering with, or supporting, the charity's school readiness project, call Donna on 01706 629651 or email donna.homestart@gmail.com.