Welcome to Blackpool Family Hubs
Our Family Hubs offer services in local communities to Blackpool families with children aged 0-19, (up to 25 where there are SEND needs).
They are here to provide you with a range of information, support and services delivered both on site, virtually (such as online, interactive sessions) and through a network of connected providers and places like schools and community centres.
Our Family Hubs will also be the home for the
Start for Life offer. This is a range of services which support parents to be, children and families in the first 1,001 days of a child’s life – from conception right through to two years old.
Family Hubs are designed to:
- Make services for children, young people and families more accessible through a main point of access in local Blackpool communities
- Better connect professionals, services and providers by being co-located in the same venues
- Focus on building trusted and supportive relationships with local families
- Build on family strengths, networks and work with peers
Background
On 2 April 2022, Blackpool, along with 74 other local authorities were announced as eligible to receive a share of a £301.75 million investment from the Government to establish a Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. Family hubs:
- Bring services together to improve access
- Improve the connections between families, professionals, services and providers
- Put relationships at the heart of family support
At the core of every family hub network is a great Start for Life for babies, right from conception through to 2 years old. Support is also available to families of children aged up to 19, or to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged up to 25.
Our ambition is to ensure that local families can access the right support, at the right time, in the right place, with the right people.
Blackpool’s Family Hub and Start for Life offer
Over the coming months, we will be working to develop dedicated printed and online timetables that will outline all the programmes, activities and sessions available at our North, South and Central Family Hubs - including those dedicated to the Start for Life offer. The Start for Life offer includes services and sessions supporting:
- Early language development
- Infant-feeding advice and specialist breastfeeding support
- Parent infant relationships and perinatal mental health
- Parenting support
- These sessions will compliment services like Midwife appointments and Health Visitor drop ins
Family Hubs will also deliver a range of other services and sessions for Blackpool families which will over time include:
- Activities for children aged 0-5
- Debt and welfare advice
- Domestic abuse support
- Midwifery and health visiting
- Housing advice
- Family support
- Mental health services
- Nutrition and weight management
- Services for children who have or may have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families
- Support parent relationships
- Youth services (universal and targeted), to name a few
How can I find out more?
We are working towards launching our Family Hubs and new Start for Life offer in early June. There will be lots of useful information, advice and support available for Blackpool families. We know how important it is for the information to be clear to understand and easily available to those who need it, so we are taking the following steps:
- We are currently in the process of creating an easy-to-use online space where you can find information about what is available through the Start for Life offer and at our Family Hubs via digital timetables and programme breakdowns
- A dedicated social media page is available to follow to hear the latest news and get updates about what is happening across the Family Hubs
- We will be creating printed timetables which will be available for families to take away at each of the Central, North and South hubs as well as other key buildings and locations in Blackpool
- We will be working closely with our wider workforce and partner services to ensure they understand our offer and share with those they work with
- Our friendly reception team at each hub will also happily provide you with any information you need about services, sessions and more
- Making sure our offer allows families to better manage challenges and provide their babies with the best possible start in life is important to us.
How can I get involved?
To drive and support the development of our Family Hubs we will be establishing Parent and Carer Panels, made up of parents with children initially in the start for life period (0-2 years), to co-produce the ways we communicate with other local parents, discuss how services are delivered and how well they work. If this is something you would be interested in learning more please check back here for further details in the coming weeks.