£3.4m government funding to help struggling families across Rotherham

Rotherham Council is one of 75 local authorities to receive a share of £30m government funding to set up three hubs which will make help more easily accessible for families.

It is proposed to have three main hubs, in existing buildings in the central, north and south areas of the borough.

The government say the hubs will offer help and support to families, from early years support to parenting classes, and will act as a ‘one stop shop’ where families can access important services.

The hubs will provide programmes to help families with parenting, mental health, miscarriage loss, and home learning, amongst others.

They will support families from pregnancy through early years and later childhood, up to the age of 19, or 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

A report to the council’s improving lives select commission states that the funding will be predominantly used for ‘transformation’, with five per cent to be used for upgrading existing buildings.

The report adds: “Family Hubs are a way of joining up the planning and delivery of family help and support services to improve access, connections between families, professionals, services, and providers, and to put relationships at the heart of family support.”

Susan Claydon, head of service for early help and family engagement told the meeting: “We want our family hubs to be a place that welcomes all, and they’re not seen as a place where you go if you’ve got problems.”