PICTURES: Alness birthday bash for Home-Start East Highland as helping hand charity marks a milestone

THE life-changing difference a Highland charity has made to families the length and breadth of the region was celebrated at a very special party in Easter Ross this week.

Home-Start East Highland celebrated its 35th birthday with a get-together in Alness that offered a day of fun and games and a chance for those who help and have been helped down the years to reflect on a remarkable journey.

Parents coping with issues such as post-natal depression, their or their child’s illness or disability, isolation or multiple births are amongst those helped.

Volunteers, with parenting experience, can visit regularly and offer emotional and practical support to families who need it. The friendly parent-to-parent support is a simple yet effective way of helping families.

Home-Start East Highland provides a service to East, Mid and West Ross, Inverness and Badenoch and Lochaber.

The charity offers practical and emotional support to families when it’s needed most.

The celebration hosted at The Field in Alness was enjoyed by previous and present families supported and professionals who have worked with Home-Start East Highland.

Around 270 people were present for the day of fun and enjoyment.

Senior coordinator Kathleen Macleod said: “It was a fantastic day with a great turnout. We’d really like to thank those at The Field for their terrific support.”

She went on: “One wee boy who was there said it was the best big birthday party he had ever been to!”

See more pictures in this week's Ross-shire Journal – out now.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.