Leicestershire Family Hubs

The government announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 that £69m funding would be allocated to Family Hubs for their continuation in 2025-2026. The announcement was welcomed by the Family Hubs Network

Throughout last year, Coram Hempsall’s facilitated three multi-agency Theory of Change workshops for the Leicestershire Hubs, and given this funding has now been confirmed, we asked Rachel Sharman, Family Hubs Project Manager at Leicestershire County Council to reflect on progress to date in readiness for considering what may happen next, she says:

“Developing our Family Hubs network has always been about building on the legacy of our previous successes. Our breadth of partnerships was good, and having moved to a 0-19 model in 2019, we were in a strong position to build on what already worked. Our small team of six has succeeded in securing reciprocal professional relationships, particularly with partners in Leicestershire Libraries, which allowed us to enhance the offer across 16 extra sites, where we have branded information stands and computers so families can access the Family Hubs website.

We used local data to develop project work across the county, including working with Leicestershire GATE (who are the only not for profit organisation working with Traveller and Gypsy communities across the city, county and Rutland), focussing on maternity equity in Loughborough and working with a GP network to develop a community-based offer for parents of pre-school children in Melton.

Our 2023 and 2024 conferences enabled us to cement a shared understanding of the early help system, showcasing our commissioned film, which follows one family's journey with multiple challenges. It is now used in team meetings and training events to continue our key messaging.

We launched our commitment to Reducing Parental Conflict where senior leaders signed our Relationships Matter pledge at our 2023 conference. The lead for the LA has secured training of 861 professionals/volunteers, including 108 'health' staff and 177 school staff from 97 schools. 246 workers have attended the One Plus One RPC digital resources workshops held since November 2023.

Our 21 main family hubs have benefited from significant improvements/specific resources following consultation with children and their families.

The most significant development has been our digital offerings and associated training for business support colleagues. The website is continuously evolving, with regular updates added each week.

Branding and consistency of communication have been key to keeping us visible and relevant, which will be an ongoing focus now that we have received confirmation of a further grant for the forthcoming year. We, of course, remain committed to the existing projects that our original grant allowed us to establish. January will be a time to refocus and ensure our collective efforts support children, young people, and their families when needed”. A Year of Family Hubs in Leicestershire