Supporting families in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Since 2025
Areas
7 years
Getting started
We recently completed the Discovery phase in Middlesbrough. This is the starting point for our work in each place, bringing together data, research and conversations with local organisations and practitioners to build a shared understanding of the early years landscape and the experiences of families with young children.
As part of Discovery, we spoke with more than 50 professionals and practitioners across health, education, local authority teams, voluntary and community organisations, alongside reviewing local strategies, research and evidence.
What we found
We are committed to doing everything possible to provide children with the opportunity to fulfil their potential and live a happy, healthy and successful life. The quality of a child’s early years is vital for their future. Those who are developmentally ready to begin school will often have a happier and healthier childhood, while those that start behind can fall further behind.”
Cllr Jan Ryles
Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health on Middlesbrough Council
What’s happening in Middlesbrough
We have moved into the Co-design and Implement phase. Our expanded team is building partnerships and working with local services, parents, carers, communities and other local organisations to shape the next stage of the programme. We have already begun to support local services, always seeking to build on and strengthen the community-based support that already exists in an area.
Together, we are building on existing strengths and developing support that helps babies, young children and their families thrive. Explore some of the activity currently taking place across Middlesbrough.
Progress and learning in Middlesbrough
We use data, evaluation and local insight to understand what is changing, where progress is being made and what we still need to learn.
51%
reduction in the proportion of children starting Reception with severe speech and language delay following the introduction of Talking Time.
97%
of children taking part in NELI improved their communication skills.
5x
increase in parent, baby and toddler groups, creating enough weekly session spaces for more than half of parents of children aged 0–2.
Partnerships in Middlesbrough
At Thrive at Five, partnership is at the heart of everything we do, working alongside families, schools, early years settings, communities and local organisations across Abbey Hulton and Bentilee to make sure support for young children is joined-up, accessible and rooted in everyday family life.
Our work is shaped through close partnerships with Stoke-on-Trent City Council, seven local primary schools, private, voluntary and independent early years settings, and the communities and families we serve. These relationships help us support children’s routines, confidence, communication and wellbeing ahead of their first day at school.
Alongside these core partnerships, we work as part of a wider network of local and national organisations that share our commitment to giving every child the best possible start. Together, this collective effort strengthens our reach, deepens learning and helps build a more connected early years system for families.
We are excited to talk, listen and work together with families and carers in Middlesbrough to help our children’s development from birth to the classroom. Children in our town deserve the best start in life and equal access to support and opportunities and we believe our partnership with Thrive at Five can help to deliver that.”
Mark Adams, Director of Public Health South Tees
