New Family Hubs model will start next spring

From April 2024, a new family hub model will be in place with an accessible digital platform offering information, advice, support and self-help courses alongside 21 family hubs in Wiltshire's community buildings.

The model will provide support and advice for families with children or young people aged from 0 – 19 or up to 25 for those with Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities.

The proposals are in line with government plans for family hubs. The family hubs will be located in community buildings across the county.

Families will have regular access to a team of navigators, who will have a visible presence in the hubs and the wider community, making them accessible to as many people as possible.

The navigators will work with all customer-facing staff to ensure a consistent service is always available for families in the relevant community buildings. The staff there will be trained to offer assistance and signposting to families.

They will be the central point of contact and develop relationships in the community and with clusters of schools and early years providers in the local area.

The proposals are in line with feedback from families and young people through a recent survey and 24 face-to-face consultation events across the county, when they were asked a range of questions, including how they wanted to find out information about services available in the local area to support them and their family.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “We have listened to families and are preparing for a new model which will provide the proper community support.

“We have agreed to move forward with this new approach which will make it easier for families to access help. We are ensuring we will have 21 hubs across the county and a great online service to offer advice and support.

“This is in line with our business plan to ensure people are empowered to live full, healthy, and enriched lives by getting the best start in life, staying active and living well together and families are able to access support when and where they need it.

“We’ve listened to our families and they have told us they want advice and support in their communities, online and easy to access. This new model will mean families and young people can access information and support swiftly both online and at places local to them We look forward to these hubs being operational from April 2024, bringing services together and putting relationships at the heart of family help.”

A single provider will now be sought to operate the contract across Wiltshire alongside the council’s Family Key Workers. Navigators will operate from 21 community buildings across the county, including leisure centres, libraries and schools.

The family hubs will replace the support currently offered by children’s centre services who support families of children aged from 0-5 years. They will instead offer support to families of children and young people up to the age from 0-19 years.

The current contracts with The RISE and Spurgeons are due to end on 31 March 2024 and will allow the delivery of Family Hubs, allowing co-ordinated support to be available in one place for more families.