Supporting families in Redcar & Cleveland
Discovery: understanding the needs of local areas
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council teamed up with Thrive at Five in late 2023, with the support of the Woodsmith Foundation and the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV), to work with the communities in Dormanstown, Eston, Grangetown, Kirkleatham and South Bank.
Discovering the factors affecting child development
To build a comprehensive picture of what life is like for local children from pregnancy to age five our local and national team gathered comprehensive data in 2024. The team also held sessions and 1-2-1 interviews with parents and carers, teachers, health providers, police community support officers, local authority staff and other community representatives and groups.
A local researcher was commissioned to encourage families, particularly those whose voices are seldom heard, to share what is important to them.
What we learnt through Discovery
• In 8 of the 11 primary schools in the areas we are working, half of children do not currently reach a good level of speech, language and behavioural development by the end of reception.
• Up to a third of children are receiving early help and this need has increased.
• Local families face a number of difficulties including poor housing, anti-social behaviour, high levels of unemployment and child poverty and lack of public transport, green spaces and places to go.
• Opportunities and activities are available for families and children but not well attended.
Co-design & implement
We engaged with local partners to help identify the strengths and gaps, bringing together the community of support for children in their early years.
We are now establishing working groups to enable the relevant organisations and individuals to focus on the actions that will contribute most towards the stepping stones for positive early childhood development.
Improve & embed
The Centre for Evidence and Implementation will be helping us to evaluate and improve our work in Redcar & Cleveland and we will share this data to inform our collaboration across the community throughout this seven year partnership.
Our Redcar & Cleveland Collaborators
Our work in Redcar & Cleveland work is made possible by a number of local organisations working across health, social care, education, community and voluntary groups. They contribute practical community knowledge to our work and help build and strengthen trusted community relationships.
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Contact us
Get in touch if you would like to support our work in Redcar and Cleveland.