Peterborough family hubs to receive £3 million in funding to improve babies' start to life

Barnardo’s children centre in Peterborough will become the first of three family hubs in the city to receive a share of a £3 million Government grant aimed at improving babies’ start in life.

Which other two hubs will join the First Steps Children and Family Centre, run by Barnardo’s on behalf of Peterborough City Council (PCC), will be announced shortly – but they will be existing hubs in areas of the city identified as high need.

The additional cash, which comes from a programme run jointly by the Department of Education (DfE) and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), is aimed at providing services that will support babies and their families through the “1,001 critical days from conception to age 2”.

This includes breastfeeding support, parent-infant relationship and mental health support and online parenting courses.

Peterborough’s £3 million comes from a £300 million fund announced in the Government’s 2021 Autumn Budget to be shared between 75 local authorities with the "highest levels of deprivation”.

The DfE and DHSC say they chose these using a metric which considers the proportion of children in each area that are “income deprived” or whose families receive state benefits.

It also considers the share of urban and rural areas in each local authority.

Peterborough came in at 42/153 of the local authorities considered for funding, meaning it comfortably qualified as part of the 75 invited to apply.

Government minister visits Peterborough family hub

The Government marked the announcement with a visit from health minister Neil O’Brien to the First Steps Children and Family Centre.

He was joined by Peterborough MP Paul Bristow (Conservatives), PCC leader Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives) and Children’s Services representative Cllr Lynne Ayres (Conservatives).

While the funding is primarily aimed at the first 1,001 days of a child’s conception and life, the hub supports children up to the age of five and offers ante-nattal care, play sessions, help with finding jobs and training and advice about childcare and early education.

It was rated Good by Ofsted at its last inspection (albeit 10 years ago).

Barnardo’s assistant director for children’s services Kat Band said that supporting families is especially important during the “cost-of-living crisis”.

Hubs important during ‘cost of living crisis’

“We were delighted to welcome the minister to the First Steps Child and Family Centre today, in recognition of the key role that these hubs play in children’s lives,” she said.

“We’re proud to support local families in the community, particularly at the moment during the cost-of-living crisis.”

The news comes after PCC confirmed that its warm hubs will benefit from £8,000 funding each over the next year, which also comes via DHSC.

This means the hubs can run as before, but must also offer Covid and flu engagement.