Events
Family Hubs Conference: celebrating progress and forging the future
The Reach Centre, Derby, Friday 29th November 2024
This one-day conference in the heart of England was a vibrant and encouraging muster-call for Family Hubs. Many local councils and their partners shared practical, up-to-date examples of great practice across a wide range of service areas and ways of working; reviewed and celebrated progress and spoke into future policy and funding decisions. Speakers also pointed forward to the potential for Family Hubs to deliver priorities for a broader range of departments across Government.
Please see a link to our news article on the Conference.
Click here to find slides and videos, or here to see the Conference brochure.
The day included a good mix of plenary and more interactive breakout sessions, as well as a panel Q&A session in the afternoon.
We heard from a wide range of dynamic speakers and local authority representatives who are leading the way on Family Hubs including:
- Lord Farmer, Founder of Family Hubs Network
- Janet Daby MP, Minister for Children and Families
- Ian Soars, CEO of Spurgeons
- Emma Bowman, Director Children’s Services SE & London Regions, Barnardo’s
- Richard Comerford, Chief Commercial Officer at HCRG Care Group
- Dr Samantha Callan OBE, Co-founder and Director of Family Hubs Network
- Department for Education
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven & Workington and author of the 2022 Independent Review of Children’s Social Care
- Zoe Oddy, Head of Targeted & System Support Services, Essex Child & Family Wellbeing Service
- Christina Welsh , Education Programme Manager at the Council for Disabled Children
- Monica Hingorani, Regional Implementation Advisor, East & West Midlands at the National Centre for Family Hubs
- Cristina Odone, Head of Family Unit, Centre for Social Justice
- Helen Adam, Chair of the Family Solutions Group
- Tim Lloyd, Head of Family Services, HMPPS
- Vicky Baird, Prison Family Services Manager, Spurgeons
- Sarah Cattan, Fairer Start Mission Director, NESTA
Session topics included:
- Where do Family Hubs fit into National and Local Family Support?
- Family Hubs and Reform of Children’s Social Care
- Building a Family Hubs Network
- Evaluation and Evidence
- Start for Life and Early Years Provision
- Local variability in 0-19 Services
- Excellence in SEND Provision
- Support for Relationships in Family Hubs
- Support for Families Affected by Prison
- Youth and Youth Justice
- Mental Health and School Attendance
- Future Funding of Family Hubs
- Engaging Dads and Ethnic Minority Communities
- Partnerships with Faith-based Organisations
- Partnerships with Health
- Family Hubs Outcomes Frameworks
- Different roles for Digital in Family Hubs
- Developing Family Hubs without Central Government Funding
- Forging the Future for Family Hubs
There were also exhibitor stalls and opportunities for interactive engagement and networking throughout the day.
