Leader’s Corner
31 March 2025 – Local Family Hubs are supporting local families
We have seven Family Hubs across the city, providing a one stop shop for families to access support for infant feeding, parenting, healthcare, perinatal mental health, home learning and much more. They provide this support to all Southampton families completely free.
Our Family Hubs offer a range of parenting and community programmes such as 'Cook and Eat', ‘Living with Teenagers’ and 'Being a Parent'. These programmes offer the tools to help families as they grow and develop. Families also visit Hubs to play, learn and get support, with the aim to give children and young people a good start in life.
With a wide range of sessions available including Support, Play and Learn Together – a two-hour play session for all children, Inbetweenies – for babies who move around on their own up to the age of 18 months or Time 4 Play - for children with additional needs, there’s something for every child. During the Easter school holidays there will be themed activities at play sessions, so do go along and join in the fun!
The wonderful staff offer advice and information on services available to families with everything from weaning through to applying for a new school place or looking to return to work. They can also help with applications for the NHS Healthy Start scheme, where eligible families can access fruit, vegetables and milk. There are currently around 900 children who could benefit from this scheme.
This Sunday will be Mother’s Day, and I am reminded of the importance of celebrating anyone that looks after a child, and the support our Family Hubs offer as it is something I hope to see more people benefit from in the future.
If you would like to find out more about what’s on at the Family Hubs across the city visit our Family Hubs pages or follow the Family Hub page on Facebook.