The Government have announced 75 local authority areas who are set to benefit from funding for new family hubs – five of them being north east London boroughs; Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
The councils are eligible for a share of £302m to create new Family Hubs in their areas. These hubs give parents advice on how to take care of their child and make sure they are safe and healthy – providing services including parenting and breastfeeding support. To further support children in their early years, £100 million of this funding will be shared among eligible areas to roll out bespoke parent-infant relationship and perinatal mental health support. £82m will be used to create the network of family hubs, £50m will be used to establish breastfeeding support services, £50m will fund evidence-based parenting programmes, £10m will be used to support local authorities to publish a clear ‘Start for Life offer’ and a further £10m will be ringfenced for councils to trial innovative Start for Life workforce models. More information is available on the Government website.