Aims and approach
Its aim
A Better Start aims to improve the life chances of babies and very young children by changing the way services are commissioned and delivered, involving parents as equal partners.
What it is
A Better Start is the 10 year (2015 to 2025), £215 million programme set up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
5 A Better Start partnerships in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham and Southend-On-Sea are supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life. Involving local parents, the A Better Start partnerships are developing and testing ways to improve their children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication.
A Better Start is place-based and aims to create approaches, relationships and services which better support people and communities to thrive.
Its outcomes
The outcomes of A Better Start are:
- improving children’s diet and nutrition to support healthy physical development and protect against illness in later life
- supporting children to develop social and emotional skills so they can develop positive relationships and cope with difficult situations
- helping children develop their language and communication skills, so that they can engage with the world around them
- bring about ‘systems change’. This means changing the way that local health, public services and the voluntary and community sector work together with parents to improve outcomes for children