Nottinghamshire’s Family Hubs are one of the ways services for families are delivered across the county.
Since the county’s first Family Hub was launched in 2024, more Family Hub networks have been rolled out, offering support from pregnancy to a child’s 18th birthday. With 10 of the 18 Family Hub networks already in place, the rollout is moving at pace and is on track to be completed by the end of March 2025.
To celebrate the opening of each Family Hub network, families and professionals have been taking part in official launch events to find out about the help and support available in each location.
Councillor Tracey Taylor, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: “Delivering new Family Hubs for parents in Nottinghamshire is important so that they can get help and support when they need it. Through the many launch events, I have seen families and professionals coming together, talking to each other, and enjoying some wonderful fun activities. At the same time, parents and carers have been able to learn more about the variety of support available from their local network.
“With a range of partners, including health and voluntary sector organisations, working together, I am confident that children and families in Nottinghamshire will increasingly receive the right support at the right time.”
More than 1,000 parents and carers have been involved in creating and developing Family Hub networks in Nottinghamshire in the past 12 months.
Nottinghamshire’s children’s centres have now become Family Hubs, and instead of working only with families with young children, families will be able to ask for help and support regardless of the age of their children.
Provision will continue to include services and activities from pregnancy to four years old, e.g. midwifery and breastfeeding support, and will soon be offering services for families who need extra help with things like behaviour, special educational needs and disabilities, and more. Services will be provided by the council and others, including the NHS and local charities.
Ivy attends Retford Family Hub with her parents, and her dad said: “It is brilliant, to be fair—nice variety of activities. Ivy has loved it and taken part in everything. I would recommend this to other families.”
Activities will take place in dedicated Family Hub buildings, community venues, and online. All the organisations are passionate about supporting children, young people, and families, and staff are committed to ensuring that children and families receive the best support possible wherever they are in the county.
One of the grandparents who uses the services on offer with her granddaughters said: “We love coming here, we look forward to it every Wednesday, it has been great. It is all so safe and structured, a happy environment, everybody is friends here, it is just a nice place.”
Family Hubs also bring together multiple partners, including Inspire Libraries – an arm’s-length cultural organisation that manages cultural services on behalf of the county council.
Jill Barr is one of the District Library Managers and attended the launch of Rushcliffe Family Hub.
She said: “This was a fantastic opportunity to broaden my knowledge and network with local partners.
“It is helping us to continue strengthening our collaboration opportunities and ensuring a good understanding of the support available in our communities so we can also actively signpost our library customers and spread awareness of council and local support services.”
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