Waltham Forest to receive new funding for Family Hubs and Start for Life programme

Waltham Forest are one of 75 local authorities who will be part of a £300 million programme, improving services and making them more accessible to families who need them most. Part of the government’s best start for life vision, this project will make sure Waltham Forest families can access the support they need and empower them to provide a strong start to life for their children.

Lead member for Children and Young People, Cllr Alistair Strathern shared: ‘We’re proud of the work we do in Waltham Forest to support families, including continuing to invest in our children and families centres over the last decade. We know how important it is for all families to be able to access the support they need, when they need it – and in easy reach of their home too. This is why we’re proud to be part of this ambitious new programme to build on our investment in families centres, enabling us to provide even more integrated support to families at crucial times.

This funding is going to strengthen the services we provide to families, offering deeper wrap around support across the community. We know that our voluntary, community and faith sectors play a vital role in supporting families, and our new family hubs programme will bring them even closer to local services, ensuring families can access what they need, when they need, where they need. 

We know that by continuing to lead on supporting families to care for their babies, children and young people, we’ll reduce health and education inequalities right from the start.’

This funding will enable us to make sure we can offer support to families, alongside fun and education activities within easy reach of their home, making sure our families are at the heart of everything we do. This will include improving the family journey to access services such as family support, wellbeing, health and learning activities. We'll also be creating safe spaces for our young people, including our recently launched pilot Youth Hubs. 

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