Early Family Help: Trailblazer programme

Since 2021, Children’s Teams across Greater Manchester (GM) have collaborated to understand how to create community-led models of Early Family Help (EFH). 

In 2023, as part of GoodLives GM, Innovation Unit supported the EFH Trailblazer programme, which was developed as a result of this collaboration. We supported four local authorities, Salford, Stockport, Rochdale and Wigan, on behalf of all ten GM local authorities, to pay deep attention to understanding what it takes to create community-led preventative models of EFH in practice.

The result of this programme is a suite of co-designed resources that outline the case for change, blueprint, and practice bright spots for delivering community-led, preventative EFH.

Our approach

We supported each authority through a series of coaching and peer-support spaces, to develop and identify their approach to community-led models. This has included: 

• Creating trusted family networks from the doorstep out incl. developing Family Hubs Networks and Bridges 
   
• Establishing collaboratives of EFH and Community organisations, creating shared visions and strategies, developing a shared workforce culture 
   
• Establishing co-governance with EFH and VCSFE leadership in Family Hubs  
   
• Building the role of non-statutory EFH partners and leaders to deliver help 

Working on behalf of the ten, these four trailblazers have been sharing and gathering learning via a quarterly GM-wide EFH Community of Practice.