Community Action appointed by Better Start
24th October 2024
Better Start Bradford is a 10-year programme (2015 to 2025) funded by The National Lottery Community Fund to help children in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton get the best start in life. Its focus is on pregnant women and families with children under four. It is part of a national programme with four other sites across the country. They have provided more than 22 projects for pregnant women and families with children aged under four.
Working with local parents and practitioners, the partnerships have developed and tested ways to improve children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication. The work is grounded in scientific evidence and research.
The Better Start Legacy work
The Better Start Bradford programme has been extended to 31st December 2025 in order to plan for the sustainability of its services and securing of the Better Start Bradford legacy.
Better Start have been developing and securing the extensive learning from their programme and evaluation and want to create a significant legacy to ensure the learning, evidence and impact from the programme continues to influence and add value to early childhood strategies and services across the Bradford District and beyond.
A collaborative led by Community Action Bradford & District have been appointed to deliver consultancy support for this project to develop the programme’s legacy. Community Action will be working directly with the Better Start Bradford team and Partnership, and will be key to exploring the next stage of Better Start Bradford and its legacy.
The consultancy work will include the following:
- Engagement with Better Start Bradford, wider partners, beneficiaries and the sector to explore potential future options for the project
- Development of options for the legacy of the programme and process to support decision-making
- Support for the implementation of the preferred option
- Development of a funding plan to support the setup of the chosen legacy option, if appropriate
- Support for the work of the leadership team in planning and preparing for the programme closure, ensuring legacy planning and closure planning are aligned
Overall, the work will ensure that the 10 years of learning, evidence and impact from the programme continues to influence and add value to early childhood strategies and services across the Bradford District and beyond.
We hope to see you engaged in the project!