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 in 2024, our local and national team gathered comprehensive data. 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 has been commissioned to encourage all 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.

Find out more about our Discovery process in Redcar & Cleveland

Co-design & implement

We engaged with local partners to help identify the strengths and gaps, and bring 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 towards positive early childhood development.

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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.

View collaborators

Changing Futures, NHS Community Mental Health, Middlesbrough.Gov Public Health, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB, Health Improvement Specialist (Early Years and Healthy Weight), Creditwise, Community Engagement lead for Hubs, Close Knit, FROG – Future Regeneration of Grangetown, Ennis Square Social Club, Redcar and Cleveland Community Development Officers, St Hilda’s Church, ERS and Changing Futures, Cleveland Police Community Support Officers, Early Years Lead Professional, Normanby Methodist Church, Cleveland Police Independent Domestic Violence Training, Dormanstown Community Stepping Stones, Dormanstown Ladies of Steele, Southbank Women’s Centre, Start For Life & Family Hubs Programme, Assistant Director Communities and Health, Council Rights and Benefit Team, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Woodsmith Foundation, SALT, Redcar and Cleveland Social Prescribing, Family Action – South Tees Perinatal Support Service, Healthy Schools Coordinator, Redcar & Cleveland Neighbourhood Policing, Together Middlesbrough and Cleveland, South Bank Open Well, Sport England, Redcar and Cleveland Family Hubs, Middlesbrough Council Community Reading, Public Health and Partnership, Home Start, Carers Together, South Bank Sabbat Gallery, Community Development Kirkleatham, Beyond Housing, Redcar and Cleveland Community Development Officers, Lived Experience Co-ordinator South Tees Changing Futures, Grangetown Footprints in the Community, Family Hubs and Partnership Management, Families Together Project, Lloyds Foundation, Police and Crime Commissioner, South Bank Community Land Trust, South Bank NiteLight, You’ve Got This (YGT), Salvation Army, Eston Arts Centres, Kirkleatham Museum, Kirkleatham 25K Youth Centre, Kirkleatham Neighbourhood Action Partnership, Grangetown Footsteps in the Community, Dormanstown Community Stepping Stones Cafe, Dormanstown The Good Life Community Garden – Mental Health, Dormanstown Westfield Farm Community Resources and Training Centre, Dormanstown Lighthouse Navigation North East, The Brickyard Bakery, We Care, You Care, Hullabaloo Theatre, Redcar and Eston School Sport Partnership, Grangetown Generations.

Schools
Bankfields Primary School, Caedmon Primary School, Dormanstown Primary Academy, Grangetown Primary School, Green Gates Primary School, Riverdale Primary School, South Bank Community Primary School, St Margaret Clitherow’s Catholic Voluntary Primary Academy, Teesville Primary Academy, Whale Hill Primary School, Wilton Primary School.

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