£2.7m transformation plan for family hubs approved by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council

A major transformation plan to improve services for children, young people and families has been approved by the Council’s Cabinet today (Tuesday 11 July).

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council is one of 75 local authorities nationally which have been given the opportunity to access significant funding to enhance services in the borough’s family hub centres.

The Council will receive almost £2.7m over the three years of the programme to develop the family hub offer in conjunction with partner agencies. This will see a broader offer of support, longer opening hours and a service which will support children and young people aged 0-19, rather than 0-5 which it is at present.

Additional services would include midwives, Enhanced Maternity Support Workers, Family Action and more working with other community organisations.

To access the funding, the Council needs to adopt the Government’s vision for the future of family hubs and focus on delivering a greater service offer at slightly fewer centres. The Council has carried out a robust local needs assessment and detailed analysis on the use and future suitability of all centres in the borough and extensive consultation with family hub users to gather their views on what they value in our offer.

After considering the consultation results, it is proposed to relocate family hub services from two current centres to expand the offer at the chosen nine centres. The two buildings at Carlin How and Saltburn would remain community assets and alternative uses would be explored.

Ahead of today’s decision at Cabinet, Cllr Luke Myer, cabinet member for Children, visited one of the family hubs at South Bank where he heard about the exciting plans. He was informed of new training to enable staff to improve language skills for three and four year olds, extra support for mums and newborns, plans to improve the building to make more multi-functional and much more.

“He also spoke to mother, Natalia Harcenko, who is a regular user of the hub where she takes her three-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter.

Natalia, who also uses the Grangetown facility, said: “This is a wonderful place. The staff are so friendly and really helpful and it’s also good to chat to other parents here. It’s a way the children can socialise and, for my children, it’s a great for them to speak English as we often speak Ukranian at home. These are really important places for families here.”

Cllr Myer said: “We are really excited about this opportunity to enable us to transform this vitally important service for families right across our borough. What it will mean for families is more services, open more days and for a wider age range. This is about investing in our children and in the future.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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