Family Hubs are a new way of bringing together all the support a family may need, from pregnancy through to young people turning 19 (or 25 if they have a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND).
Family hubs will operate as a network of services within your neighbourhood to provide accessible and connected services and support to all families.
These services will work together to provide high quality support for the whole family, so that children, young people, and families will get the right help at the right time.
How can Family Hubs help me?
There are a variety of ways our Family Hub network can support you including:
- Health Visiting, Midwifery and antenatal appointments and classes
- Activities for babies and children aged 0-5
- Support advice and guidance for families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities
- A range of housing advice and support including homelessness, help with affordability and tenancy arrangements
- Help with debt and money worries including access to food parcels/pantries
- Ways to improve whole family physical and mental health and wellbeing
- Parenting support, advice, and guidance
- Help to build, strengthen and maintain healthy relationships including learning opportunities
- Activities, opportunities, and support for young people
There will also be places across your neighbourhood where access to digital equipment will be available to support with things like job searches, housing applications and booking appointments.
How can you have your say and get involved?
- Are you a parent/carer?
- Are you passionate about shaping services for families in Wigan?
We are looking for parents and carers to join our Family Hub parent/carer panel to share your experiences and have a voice about Family Hub development in your area.
What is the Family Hub parent/carer panel?
The parent/carer panel is where parents and carers work together with local service leads and commissioners to help design, deliver and evaluate services.
Who can be involved?
We would love to hear from you if you live in the Wigan and Leigh area and are either currently expecting a baby, a parent or carer of a child 0 to 19 years old, or a child up to 25 years old with a special education need or disability. We want to hear from a diverse group of parents and carers to ensure we have different voices heard from our community. You do not need any previous experience.
What will I have to do?
As a member of the parent/carer panel, you will be kept up to date about developments across the Family Hub network, you may also be asked to:
- Share personal knowledge and experiences of services
- Take part in meetings, workshops and other projects to help shape the way services are run in your area
- Complete surveys and on occasion, help to design surveys for others to complete.
Where and when will the meetings be held?
We know parents and carers are busy, so as a group we will find a time that works for as many of the group as possible. We will try to make meetings accessible, they will either be at your local Family Hub, a community setting or virtual.
Why should you join?
You could make a real difference in your local Family Hub for you and your child. You will be given the opportunity and environment to share your thoughts and ideas and be a voice for your local community.
There will also be preparation activities including access to any free training opportunities that will assist you in your role as a panel member.
Refreshments, interpreting and any other accessibility requirements will be provided for meetings to enable full participation.
If you have any further questions or want to be part of our parent/carer panel, please contact us by emailing earlyhelpvolunteering@wigan.gov.uk or visit Wigan Borough Volunteer Hub.