Four new Family Hubs to open in Reading

Four new Family Hubs are set to open in Reading, offering information, advice and support to families, children and young people.

The hubs, part of the Government’s Best Start in Life strategy, will provide support for children and their families from 0 to 18 years or 25 for young adults with care experience or special educational needs and disabilities.

Existing sites in Whitley, Ranikhet, Sun Street (reaching out to North Reading) and Southcote have been chosen as the locations of the new hubs, which will bring together a wide range of services under one roof, including family safeguarding, early years support and help for neurodivergent families.

A range of partnership services will be available at the Hubs from Monday to Friday, with new extended hours of 8am to 6pm, as well as from local satellite bases across Reading. Both a new physical and digital offer will be available from these facilities, with services previously offered at these sites also remaining.

All four sites will open as Best Start in Life Family Hubs on Thursday 19 March, with an official launch event at South Reading Family Hub (South Reading Community Hub) to mark the occasion.

Reading Borough Council has been working in partnership with the health, employment, training, housing and the wider voluntary sector to design an offer that responds directly to what children, young people, parents and caregivers of Reading say is needed.

The concept of Family Hubs sits within the wider national Families First Reform, aiming to transform the whole system of support to ensure that every family can access the right help when they need it, with a strong emphasis on early intervention.

Cllr Wendy Griffith, Lead Councillor for Children, said:

“In Reading, we want every family to know there is somewhere they can turn to for support - from pregnancy, through the teenage years and into early adulthood.

“These four Family Hubs will be safe, welcoming spaces at the heart of our communities, bringing together a wide range of services under one roof. The timetables will include a broad range of topics such as emotional support for new parents, young people’s wellbeing, housing advice, help with speech and language, stay and play for children under five and more.

“We’re really looking forward to opening the doors on 19 March and continuing to put families, children and young people at the centre of everything we do in Reading.”