Meet The Team

Liz moved to the IOW 17 years ago to bring up her 2 children, now adult, in a community by the sea. After working for a Bank in the Finance sector for 38 years, including becoming a Certified Accountant, she has taken early retirement and is now happily using her skills in the Charity & Care sectors.
She likes to be busy and after a friend drew her attention to Home Start IOW she discovered this rewarding charity. It helps families who need support while their children are very young and gives volunteers a tremendous sense of positive giving, making use of their life experience to pass on to the next generation.
She really enjoys both her roles as a home visitor and Treasurer Trustee citing, “It is wonderful to be able to give back. The whole team at Home Start IOW are brilliant, so supportive and encouraging. I love spending time with my matched family.”
She has numerous hobbies and interests including singing in Medina Community Choir, with which she has been lucky to sing at The Carnegie Hall in New York and goes on tour to Paris in the summer. She also sings in West Wight Choir.
She loves a challenge and will be walking the Coast to Coast (St Bees Head to Robin Hoods Bay) with a friend and family. You may see her out and about practising to get time in her boots.

I was born on the Isle of Wight, worked at St.Catherines School ( Ventnor) before training as a Paediatric Nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital (London). I returned to the island, qualified as a Midwife, married, had 2 children and worked for 21 years in the SCBU/NICU. I retrained and qualified working as a Health Visitor until my retirement in 2024.

Whilst working as a Health Visitor I witnessed first hand the positive impact Home-Start had on the lives of families I worked with. So on retirement, volunteering for Home-Start was a “no brainer”. I wanted to do my bit to ensure that Home-Start I.W. continues to support Island families for the foreseeable future, as a Trustee and by helping in Baby and Family Groups, which I love.

Maureen grew up in Ryde, and then left the island for 25 years. Like many others, she returned with her husband so that their children could benefit from island life. She has four adult children and has recently become a grandmother (much to her delight!). She now lives in Bembridge.
In the early part of her career, she was a secondary school teacher, working with children with special educational needs, in the more deprived areas of London and Bristol.
She then moved into the international aid sector, and has worked as a trainer/facilitator all over the world, mostly focusing on children and young people, and Children’s Rights.

She helps organisations develop realistic strategies and assess the impact of their efforts.
She is proud to be part of the Home Start family, and really believes that we can make such a positive difference to young children and their carers on the island.

I have been a home-visiting volunteer for about 25 years, a Trustee for almost as long and Chair more recently.

I went to Island Volunteers when I moved back to the IOW and was sent to Home-Start and dropped in the deep end with three under-twos.

Since then I have had the privilege of supporting many families, with very differing issues, and have had lots of fun throughout as well. I’m sure my retirement would have been much less colourful and far more uninteresting without Home-Start and I hope to continue for a while yet.

Do get involved – you can really make a difference.

Having been a Home-Start Volunteer with families on the Island I wanted to extend the ways that I could help due to the life changing support that I have seen Home-Start provide. Becoming a Trustee was one of the options given to me.Helping in this way is a real privilege and calls upon the skills I have acquired as a Primary School Teacher and mum of three grown up children, while allowing me to present a Volunteer’s perspective and extend my passion for raising Home Start’s profile on the Island. As the Trustees strive to enhance the provision for young children and their families, being a part of this is an exciting opportunity.

I was asked to join the team because of my experience in business, marketing and communications and previous charitable work.  I have always been passionate about giving a chunk of my time to supporting charities that make a real difference to people’s lives and Home-Start is such a charity. Listening to stories from volunteers, staff and parents absolutely blew me away and I knew I wanted to get involved.  For me being a trustee at Home-Start Isle of Wight has been about becoming part of a team where we combine our resources and skills so we can continue to help and support as many families as possible not just today but way into the future. 

Julian is originally from Southampton and has fond memories of family day‑trips and holidays to the Isle of Wight. For nearly 20 years, he has divided his time between the Island and work commitments elsewhere. His wife, Kylie, is an active HomeStart volunteer in Wandsworth, and their two adult children grew up enjoying the Island’s wonderful outdoor activities on both land and sea.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Julian is passionate about supporting charities that improve the lives of children and families. He is proud to serve as a Trustee for HomeStart Isle of Wight, helping local families navigate the challenges of early family life. He is also Treasurer for Kinship, the UK’s leading charity for kinship carers — the relatives and friends who step in to raise a child when parents cannot.