What is Family Hubs and Start for Life?

Across the Bradford district our Family Hubs support families with children and young people of all ages and at every stage of family life. 

Family Hubs are places in the heart of the community where you can attend appointments, meet with staff for a chat, or take part in courses and activities. 

This section has more information about our Family Hubs and what they offer, including a timetable of events for each hub.

We also have lots of advice, information and resources based on age group and links to other organisations who can help with family life.

Start for Life provides extra support to families to improve children's lives, from when the baby is conceived up to the age of two.

The extra help provided through Start For Life will include support for:

• Mental well-being before and after your child is born
• Helping you build a good relationship with your baby
• Supporting you to get through everyday parenting challenges
• Helping you with feeding your baby
• The first stages of learning to to talk and other important childhood skills
• Involving families in decisions about the services that support them
• Making information easier to find

Over the coming months we will be providing updates on how the Start for Life offer may benefit you and your family.

Check out the new services being offered below, and sign up to our monthly newsletter so you can be the first to hear about what's coming next!

Baby Steps is now funded to to cover all of the Bradford District!

Baby Steps is aimed at families expecting a baby. The programme uses a combination of home visits and friendly online group sessions to help families feel happier, healthier and more confident as they look forward to meeting and caring for their new baby.

Now, with new funding from Family Hubs and Start for Life, it will be offered to a wider reach of families across all areas of our district.

To find out more, including the referral criteria, and an online application form, please take a look on the Parenting Programmes for Families page 

The form can be completed by parents or a practitioner supporting them.

Feeling down, anxious or lonely during pregnancy and after childbirth is common. 

If you are pregnant or have a child under two, help is at hand.

Family Action can support your emotional health and well-being by providing a listening ear, encouraging you to share and offload, as well as help you to take part in local groups and activities.

Using a peer support model, they offer an hour each week of listening support, in your home, or remotely. Trained in listening, all their staff and volunteers have parenting experience themselves and understand the challenges you face.

The great news is that we have funded their service to cover the whole of the Bradford District, so more families will be able to benefit from their support. 

To find out more or request support, you can contact them by:

Calling 07966 926 849

E-mail: perinatalsupport@family-action.org.uk

Following on Facebook - Family Action Bradford Perinatal Support Service

Little Minds Matter helps babies get the best possible start in life! They work with families with a baby, from conception to when the child is 2 years old, within the Bradford district who may be feeling really sad or worried. Families could be struggling with their feelings towards their baby, finding it difficult to calm their baby or feeling like their baby doesn’t respond to them.

The great news is that we have funded their service to cover the whole of the Bradford District, so more families will be able to benefit from their support. 

The Little Minds Matter team is made up of various health professionals, such as midwives, health visitors, therapeutic social workers, psychologists and community engagement. These professionals can support families in Family Hub sites, their own homes or within a group setting. They deliver some amazing group work via baby massage or circle of security.

For more information, including how to refer yourself or someone else, please visit our Mental Health and Well-Being in Pregnancy and Mental Health and Well-Being after giving birth information pages.

Little Minds Matter are also listed on our service directory and their groups can be found on our Family hub timetables.

Starting solids is a whole new chapter for parents/carers and their baby and it can feel a bit daunting, but we have funded HENRY to provide help and support across the Bradford district. HENRY can help and offer information about how to:

• Spot signs that your baby is ready to try solid food
• Know when your baby is hungry and when they’ve had enough
• Suggest foods to start with and
• Lots of ideas to make mealtimes an enjoyable experience for both you and your baby.

You will also receive a free Starting Solids resource pack.

Whether you are a parent/carer or a practitioner supporting a family, you can find out more information and apply by checking out our Parenting Programmes for Families page

We have funded BHT Early Education and Training to support families all across the district if they have concerns about their child's speech and language. There are two parts to the support we have funded:

• 'Wise Owls' - a drop-in session for families with children aged 18 months-4 years, taking place weekly in each area of the district. 
• 'Owlets' - a six week focused programme which is accessed by a referral form a health visitor.

For more information visit:

What should my baby be doing now? in the birth - 2 section and

What should my child be doing now? in the 2-5 section.

The Wise Owl drop-in sessions are starting in October and will be on our Family Hub timetables and can also be found on our What's On calendar

If you're concerned about your child's education or development, our monthly Jump Aboard sessions with educational psychologists can help:

• In a free consultation, talk through concerns and develop next steps for how to support your child.
• For children and young people of all ages
• Can cover topics such as autism and ADHD, speech and language needs, learning difficulties, social and emotional needs and sensory needs
• Information on education, health and care (EHC)
• With educational psychologists Dr Jessica Allen-Summers or Martin Pilkington

Sessions happen once a month in each of our four Family Hub areas.  For more details, click here for links to each hub's latest timetables.

Incredible Years Preschool have been funded to deliver a brand new programme for families with children aged 3 to 4 years.

The programme will be suitable for any family that would like a bit of extra help with child attachment issues, language development concerns, their behaviour, or confidence with social situations.

Many families may benefit from this support – this is the generation of babies who were born during or just before the Covid pandemic, where opportunities to socialise were limited during critical stages of babies’ development.

Families can self-refer or practitioners can make a referral with consent.

Find out more and apply by visiting our Parenting Programmes for Families page.