We work alongside local authorities, health bodies, other organisations and communities to deliver Family Hubs to help children have the best start in life. Whether in-person or online, our hubs are co-designed with the children and families who use them to make sure services are relevant, inclusive, and effective.
Our offer aligns with the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Plan and the Best Start in Life Strategy. It reflects the Plan’s focus on neighbourhood health services and centres, and the Strategy’s evidence-informed core offer for parents, clear local mission for early childhood development, and accessible digital parenting support.
What are Family Hubs and Family Centres?
Family Hubs provide a central point of access for integrated support from pregnancy through to age 19 (or 25 for young people with special educational needs or disabilities or SEND). They combine universal services with targeted interventions.
Barnardo’s Family Hubs
Every hub is different because they’re shaped by the voices and needs of the community they serve but our offer includes:
- Parenting advice.
- Play services, including sensory play for children.
- Parent/child bonding.
- Speech and language support.
- Infant feeding and nutrition, including breastfeeding support.
- Antenatal and postnatal care.
- Mental health support.
We also provide more specialist services including support for:
- Parents and carers with children with support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
- Perinatal mental health.
- Infant-parent relationships.
- Domestic abuse.
- Housing advice.
- Intensive family support.
In 2023-24, we supported 223,867 children, young people, and families through our 75 family centres (Barnardo’s, 2024).
Our Family Hubs are somewhere everyone can feel they belong
Everyone deserves to feel like they belong; to feel valued, supported and full of hope. That’s why our services, like our Family Hubs, take a trauma-informed and inclusive approach based on the principles of personalised care and shared decision making. We put the voices of children, young people and families at the heart of what we do to make sure all our services are accessible and appropriate.
We know good Family Hubs tailor their services to the local community. We achieve this by recruiting staff and volunteers who have links to and understand the local community , including speaking community languages. Hubs also undertake a variety of consultation exercises and sometimes seek to co-design services in partnership with the local community, helping them to remain responsive to the needs of local parents.
There is a diversity of experience and that includes volunteers. They bring their life skills so when they are talking to parents and carers about their issues sometimes they’ve gone through it - it’s the best advice to give!
Practitioner who works in a Barnardo’s Family Hub
It helps parents to have a diverse range of people you can approach from different backgrounds. It makes it accessible to everyone rather than just one particular group. There are parents who come to me if there is a language barrier for example, so I can communicate for them. I think that is a vital skill that volunteers bring to the centres.
Parent volunteer at a Barnardo’s Family Hub
Looking to improve outcomes for children and families in your area? Let’s talk about how we can support your local strategy.
Get in touch about our Family Hub offerOur Virtual Family Space offers parents and carers live support online
Complementing our face-to-face services, our Virtual Family Space offers expert support online. The programme extends our reach across the UK offering flexible evidence-based information, workshops, webinars, and one-to-one virtual support that address every age and stage of parenting and caregiving.
You can commission us to deliver innovative virtual support that tackles key challenges for parents and families. We can deliver sessions that are locally branded and adapted to meet your commissioning needs and local gaps.
Our core offer includes:
- Universal Best Start in Life and School Readiness: Equipping parents with essential tools to give their children a strong foundation for success.
- Parenting programmes: Tailored to meet each stage of child development, with specialised support for neurodiverse children and families.
- Neurodiversity support: Programmes for families navigating autism and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
Programmes and webinars include:
- Cygnet Autism parenting support programme.
- Parent Factor ADHD parenting support programme.
- Togetherness - workshops based on the Solihull Approach, an early intervention support framework designed to enhance children's and families' emotional health and wellbeing. This includes antennal and postnatal support.
- Five to Thrive - a programme to promote babies and children’s healthy brain development.,
Standalone topics include:
- Potty training - developed following guidance and training from ERIC, the national charity dedicated to improving children's bowel and bladder health.
- Childhood illness and prevention.
- Balanced Mind, Balanced Home - supporting male mental health.
- Healthy Smiles - encouraging good oral health.
- Infant Feeding and Solid Foods - developed following guidance from UNICEF and the NHS.
- Sleep Support - developed following guidance from The Sleep Charity.
- Toddler Talk - providing speech and language support.
- Starting Reception - Ready to Learn.
How we can help you support families in your community
We’re fully aligned to the vision and ambition set out in the Family Hub Specification and are well placed to work collaboratively with local authorities to achieve these plans. As a national charity, with extensive local delivery experience, we’re experienced in integrated working with social care, health, education, youth provision and community-based services.
Lead Delivery Provider
As a commissioned lead provider, we co-design and co-deliver Family Hubs, drawing on our extensive experience of delivering family support service across England. We can bring together local organisations across health, social care and community to be part of the integrated delivery model ensuring families have access to the best support services available. We do all of this while ensuring families and children are at the heart, through meaningful co-production and the development of influential parent and carer panels.
Supporting Delivery Partner
If you're a local authority looking for trusted providers to deliver specific aspects of the Family Hub model, we're here to help. With extensive experience and a strong track record, we can deliver evidence-based programmes and targeted interventions across key areas of family support.
We work collaboratively with partners to create integrated, effective services that meet the needs of families. Our offer includes peer support, infant-parent relationship models, and a growing focus on expanding accessible, high-quality virtual support for families.
Want to talk to someone about how we could work together to help children and families to thrive in your area?
Get in touch about our Family Hub offerCase study:
How we developed school readiness sessions in partnership with local schools
In September schools reported improved readiness and faster settling-in. 85% of children who attended school readiness sessions in June/July wearing nappies started school in September toilet trained. 78% of children flagged for speech/language delay accessed follow-on support over the summer.
The impact has been positive. The children that attended settled in quicker. The school environment is familiar to them. One child in particular who was more reluctant to join in the school readiness sessions is now fully engaging in activities.
Headteacher, Sandwell
Want to know more about how our Family Hubs offer could help you change childhoods and change lives in your area?
It takes a village: the case for family support in every community
Our report, It takes a village draws on our experience in communities across the country to highlight what we think effective family support looks like. It makes the case for ensuring that all families have access to the ‘village’ it takes to raise a child and to keep them safe. The report demonstrates how early support services can save £2.60 for every £1 invested.
Building families, building futures: The case for Family Hubs in every community
This report gathers evidence in relation to Family Hubs to better understand the impact of these services. This includes developing a picture of how current Family Hubs operate, the services they provide and how they can play a vital role in providing non-stigmatising, community-based support.
Want to commission innovative, cost-effective, integrated health and social care services?
Whether you’re working at neighbourhood, place-based, or regional level, our trauma-informed, anti-racist, and inclusive approach ensures services deliver real, lasting impact across diverse communities. From prevention to specialist support, we tailor our offer to meet local priorities, helping you achieve better health outcomes and stronger communities
Looking for some training?
We use our knowledge and experience to provide high quality training across the UK to a wide range of organisations in the private, public and charitable sectors. We offer a range of training for individuals or small groups or you can commission us to facilitate an existing training course or training that is designed and bespoke to your needs
Safeguarding Consultancy
Our Safeguarding Consultants can provide safeguarding advice and support, bringing their expertise to help you strengthen your safeguarding arrangements for children and young people, and any at-risk groups you work with.