Start for Life Offer overview
The Start for Life offer aims to support families during the first 1,001 days by providing a one stop offer of activities, information, and partnership interventions. The goal is to promote quality play provision, bonding, and attachment while delivering key messages about early childhood development to parents and carers at the start of the parenting journey.
The Coventry Way
We believe that all children should have the best start in life. This is possible by the collaborative approach made by a range of partners all providing core information and providing the support and resources that every family needs. It promotes family engagement activities with a focus on accessibility and inclusivity. The multi-agency approach to the offer is core to our offer to all families, whilst tailored to meet the needs of local children and their families.
Headlines of progress and impact
An extensive offer of both physical and digital services has been made available. Events were delivered across all Family Hubs and community settings, to help reduce health and social inequalities and reach families who experience barriers to access services. The Family Hubs worked in partnership with specialist groups that host activities to families from many newly arrived communities, providing practical help such as gifting infant car seats to new families to bring their new baby home from hospital and established a support group for Eritrean women and their young children living in temporary accommodation
Some of the Start for Life activities included:
- Birth Registration in Family Hubs – Improved accessibility for 691 parents to register the birth of their new baby at Mosaic and The Moat Family Hubs, with plans for further expansion to include Families for All and Woodside Family Hub very soon.
- Bumps, Baby and Beyond – Supported 3,815 expectant and new parents with key guidance from the Midwifery, Health Visiting and Family Hub practitioners through an integrated offer. This is currently being delivered in three of the eight Family Hubs with a plan to deliver in all eight Family Hubs within 12 months.
- Baby Weeks – Two consecutive years of week-long engaging activities hosted in city wide and local community venues provided a wide range of engagement activities to enhance family-friendly services. 550 families attended Baby Week events in 2024 throughout the city, and Baby Week 2025 will be even bigger and better!
What did families say?
Families reported that the activities were extremely supportive and helpful. Families spoke highly about the benefits of accessing services in their local area and the importance of the consistency and reliability of the offer