Sarah Brodie has every reason to look busy. Sarah is the perinatal lead coordinator for Home-Start Runnymede & Woking and has just taken delivery of a new work laptop and mobile phone as part of a package of new equipment for the charity donated by Woking District Rotary Club.

Home-Start is a local charity which provides emotional and practical support to parents with at least one child under five years old.

Its aim is to provide early support to families who are facing the challenges and stresses of family life, including a wide range of difficulties such as isolation, low self-esteem, physical and mental health issues.

Woking District Rotary has funded the purchase of new laptops and mobile telephones to enable Home-Start to replace life-expired equipment. It will be used for recording visits, processing referrals for families to agencies such as the foodbank and online meetings with other agencies.

Sarah Beasley, director, Home-Start Runnymede & Woking, said: “We are incredibly grateful for this generous donation. Two of our team had been working on laptops and phones which were about seven years old - they were slow and often needed restarting whilst trying to complete work, or even in the middle of meetings and calls!

“The new devices mean staff can complete write-ups and meetings more efficiently and spend more time focusing on direct support for families.

“As a small charity where funding is always tight this donation enabled us to replace equipment that we would have otherwise not been able to afford.”

Gill Colbeck, president of Woking District Rotary, commented: “This is just the latest in a series of donations we are making to local charities in Woking to enable them to do great things in our community more effectively.

“We can do this because of the magnificent support the people of Woking give our fundraising events, in particular the Fireworks Extravaganza in Woking Park.”