Three more Family Hubs open
Families in Birkenhead will be able to access a variety of different support services under one roof thanks to the launch of three Family Hubs.
The new Brassey Gardens Family Hub expands on the services already provided by the former Children’s Centre, and community assets Equilibrium and St James Centre are now part of the Family Hub network.
Families, community partners and professionals gathered to attend the official launch events over the last two weeks. They join Seacombe Family Hub, which launched earlier this year, in bringing together maternity services, health visitors, library and foodbank services and children’s centre activities.
The Hubs operate under a ‘single front door’ model, allowing services to work together more easily to engage with families while allowing easy access for residents.
Councillor Sue Powell-Wilde, Chair of Wirral’s Children, Young People and Education Committee, said:
In any of our Hubs, families will be offered a helping hand with the challenges they may be facing. The Hubs will continue to offer all of the Children's Centre activities that families enjoy, at the heart of a support system, tailored to each family – should they need it.
The Hubs seek to make services easier to navigate and more joined-up, ensuring families receive the right service at the right time.
Cllr Sue Powell-Wilde continued:
Family Hubs are all about making services and support more easily accessible to the people who need them.
Housing many services in one ‘hub’ means that a family will only have to explain what they need help with once, rather than having to divulge their circumstances over and over again.
The Hubs offer families ‘somewhere to come and breathe’, which is something that parents and carers told us they wanted during our engagement work.
With backing from the Department for Education’s Family Hub Transformation Fund, and shaped following a series of interactive workshops with Wirral parents and carers earlier this year, Wirral’s Family Hubs will each offer the same core services – with extra support tailored to the needs of the local communities they serve.
For example, Brassey Gardens Family Hub holds sessions for families who have English as an Additional Language and a Rainbows group for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and social or communication difficulties. Equilibrium holds community breakfasts and Nature Tots sessions for under 5s, while the family hub at St James Centre houses a digital corner and access to Wirral Lifelong Learning Service courses.
Alongside these specialist sessions, all Wirral Family Hubs will serve families with children aged 0-19 (up to age 25 with SEND) prioritising ease of access, building connections and strengthening relationships. Family Hubs will also provide information and support to adults in those families, whether that may be for women’s health issues, or advice on lifelong learning and employment.
Services families can expect to access in any Family Hub include:
- group activities for families to support their child’s development
- accessing health appointments with midwives
- health visitors
- accessing services when relationships in your life might need some support
- library and foodbank services
A further four Family Hubs are also expected to open in the New Year at the following sites:
- Wirral Development Trust, Leasowe
- Bromborough Children’s Centre
- Grove Street Primary School, New Ferry
- Ganneys Meadow, Woodchurch
Locations and opening times:
Brassey Gardens Family Hub is located in what was formerly known as Brassey Gardens Children’s Centre, at 2 Brassey Street, Birkenhead CH41 8DA. Opening times are Monday – Friday, from 8.30am to 5pm.
Families can find the Family Hub at Equilibrium at Livingstone Street Play and Community Centre, Birkenhead, CH41 3HX. Opening times are Monday – Friday, from 9am to 5pm.
St James Centre’s Family Hub is based at 344 Laird Street, Birkenhead, CH41 7AL. Opening times are Monday – Friday, from 8am to 6pm
Seacombe Family Hub is based at St Paul's Road, Wallasey CH44 7AN. Opening times are Monday – Friday, from 9am to 5pm.
For more information on Wirral’s Family Hubs and Children’s Centres, click here.
