Celebrating ‘Family Hubs Five Years On’ in Parliament

On Wednesday 11 September FHN co-hosted a ‘Family Hubs Five Years On’ event in Parliament with our partners, Spurgeons, and sponsoring MP, Rebecca Smith. This celebratory event was extremely well-attended and gave a fantastic insight into the significant impact the Family Hubs programme is having on both families and workforce alike up and down the country.

The event provided the opportunity to hear up-to-date, innovative examples of great practice from all over England, from Cornwall to Cumberland. Ten different local authorities showcased inspiring examples of what their Family Hubs are achieving, illustrating how they are the most cost-effective approach to supporting families in the critical first 1001 days and throughout childhood, to help prevent family breakdown and enable them to meet challenges like the cost-of-living crisis, poor mental health and declining school attendance.    

Here is what Ian Soars, CEO of Spurgeons had to say about the event:

‘Many of the most powerful voices who advocate for children came together to celebrate the impact of Family Hubs, but also demand their continuation and increased funding. Most encouraging was the number of connections, meetings and plans being arranged around the room to increase partnership, cooperation and the impact in children’s lives.’

Our hope is that the Government will get behind the huge momentum and success Family Hubs are having in addressing some of their key priorities. Government support is needed to ensure their sustainability going forward, and to tap into their vast potential, both in terms of expanding the services they offer and reaching into new geographical areas. The value of prevention and early help to stave off escalation to the need for more costly interventions cannot be underestimated. Families are facing many challenges, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic and lockdowns, and it is more essential than ever to be providing the support necessary to improve the wellbeing and life-chances of the nation’s next generation.

Here are some of the things that were said on the day:

‘Disruption to a child’s early years can have long term impact on their life chances, which is why it’s so important that we start early and carry on throughout all those years. Since 2022, around £300 million has been invested in 75 local authorities to develop family hubs and start for life services and funding targeted to local authorities in most urgent need. Hubs are one stop shops where professionals and partners can work together, supporting and strengthening the family relationships that are so important throughout life…These hubs can be a lifeline. They can make a massive difference to parents, carers and children’s extended families, friends, neighbours, to our communities and to our neighbourhoods. They can put in place a support structure, enabling a variety of services to act quickly before problems escalate. And that’s what we want. We want to help. We want to help early and we want to prevent difficulties in the future.’

‘We need to be supporting Family Hubs. I feel so passionate about this… In my Family Review… I looked at the role of family in children’s lives. Children and families spoke about how sometimes things could get too much to deal with and that they needed more intensive support from services…. whether that’s debt, joblessness, other problems. But too often families felt these services weren’t designed for families, but actually designed for individuals who exist in isolation. And that’s the error and that’s what we need to get right. They want services to understand them, to be non-judgmental and to be there for the long term, to be like family. And that’s why I love Family Hubs’.