Eight volunteers have joined Torfaen Council's Early Years team to support Pop-in and Play sessions across the borough, marking a new chapter in community-driven family support. The initiative, developed under The Torfaen Deal, aims to bring residents and services together to better support children and families.
Volunteers Bring Diverse Skills to Early Years
The volunteers come from a range of backgrounds, including parents who already attend groups, college students gaining valuable work experience, and retired professionals. Their roles include welcoming families, setting up play activities, and encouraging participation during sessions.
Emma Treadgold, Early Help and partnership manager at Torfaen Council, said: "The volunteers are playing a key role to help give children the best start in life by delivering family support sessions and making connections with parents and young children in their communities."
Impact on Staff and Families
By involving volunteers, the council's qualified early years staff can spend more time supporting families who need additional help. This has become increasingly important as demand for one-to-one family support has grown, with many families choosing flexible drop-in sessions over structured programmes.
Among the volunteers is Lyn Cleverly, who joined a Pop-in and Play session at Griffithstown Primary in April. Lyn said: "Since retiring from school nursing, I wanted to do something worthwhile and give back to my community. My grandchild lives away and I love spending time with children. Volunteering keeps me active, connected and I'm enjoying every minute."
Expanding Reach and Specialist Support
The service has seen a growth in demand for one-to-one family support in recent years. By using volunteers, the team has expanded its offer while ensuring specialist staff remain available to work with families facing more complex challenges.
Cllr Richard Clark, executive member for Children and Families at Torfaen Council, said: "Our parenting programmes play a vital role in strengthening families, improving parent-child relationships and supporting positive child development. Our newly established Early years Volunteering Programme is truly making a real difference in enabling us to reach and engage with more families. In turn, this is also allowing staff to focus on, and give one to one support for those families who need more intensive support."
Beyond Pop-in and Play
As well as supporting the popular Pop-in and Play sessions, the volunteers also take a lead in delivering Swap Don't Shop sessions, support Forest School activities, and help to promote the Torfaen Family Information Service.
All volunteers complete DBS checks and receive training, an induction pack, and uniform before starting their role.
Partnership and Future Opportunities
The Early Years Volunteering Programme was developed with support from Torfaen Voluntary Alliance, which helped establish recruitment, training, and governance arrangements. To find out more about volunteering opportunities or Torfaen Early Years sessions, visit the Connect Torfaen website.
