Synergy - Enquiry

All families need help from time to time to make sure their babies and children thrive, it may be help from families, friends, volunteers, or professionals.

We want every family to receive the right support at the right time
We want all families to be able to find information to help them care for, bond and play with their babies and children
We want families to know where to go, which services can help them and how they can contact services
We want parents and carers to understand how to stay well.

Taking care of yourself means you are in a good place to give your family what they need

Take a look at the Barnsley Family Hubs & Start for Life Leaflet

The first 1,001 days starts from conception until a child is 2 years of age (24 months).

It’s a time when a babies brain, body and immune system grows and develops rapidly, it a time of opportunities and sometimes challenges.

During this time, your health, nutrition, stress levels and experiences, along with the love and care that your baby experiences is important to give your baby the best start and a healthy, thriving future.

Your local Family Hub makes sure all families can access what they need during the first 1001 days.

This could be support and proving information around:

Becoming a parent
Infant feeding
Parenting
Understanding your family relationships
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Signposting to services who can help
Knowing what groups and activities are available for families to go to
Things you can do at home to help your babies’ development
Understanding the importance of Early Education
Knowing what help is available for families accessing childcare settings

Early help means working with you and your family so that small problems don’t get bigger.

You may be pregnant, you may have small children, children at school or even teenagers. Early Help is for everyone.

How do I get Early Help?

Talk to a professional who knows your family the best. It could be school, someone at your child’s nursery, your health visitor, your GP, or any professional who supports your family.

Tell them what’s working well and what you are worried about. You may have an idea about what you need, and what you think will help your family and this will be the starting point. They will talk to you to understand what is happening and what help you and your family need.

If you are not currently working with any professionals just pop into a Family Hub and ask about Early Help.

Early Help Navigators

Our Early Help Navigators can be seen in the emergency department, neonatal unit and midwifery clinics at Barnsley Hospital. They also do daily ward rounds, where they visit families in the children's ward to see if they need any help and support.

Watch Andrea to find out more about the Early Help Navigators based at Barnsley Hospital.

Family hubs are ‘one-stop-shops’ where families can access services in their community.

They support families from pregnancy through early years and later childhood, up to the age of 19 (or 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities).

Family Hubs make it easier for families to get the help they need.

This could include help with:

Becoming a Parent
Infant Feeding
Parenting
Understanding Family Relationships
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Signposting to Services who can help
Knowing what groups and activities are available for families to go to

Register with your Local Family Hub

You'll soon be able to register online with our Family Hubs. In the meantime, pop into your preferred Family Hub and collect a registration form. Our Family Hubs are open from 8:30 - 4:30 pm Monday to Friday.

We are looking for volunteers to sit on local Family Hub Parent/Carer Panels

If you are passionate about making your community a better place to live and work for everyone.

If you are looking to get actively involved in your community and have a say in what’s on offer to families

If you want to help families know what’s happening, when, and where in their community

Why not join your local Family Hub Parent/Carer Panel?

What is a Family Hub Parent / Carer Panel?

Each Family Hub will have a Parent/ carer panel, they will look at what the needs of local families are and make sure these needs are taken into account when services plan what they offer to families:

Watch Karen our Volunteer Coordinator talk about the panels.

Each panel will look at:

Shaping how services in local family hub networks are designed and delivered
Providing feedback on the services they access through the panel
Shaping changes and improvements to services because of feedback
Co-producing (work together with services) to develop and deliver what the community needs

If you like to find out more about volunteering as a Parent Carer panel member email: infofis@barnsley.gov.uk

What is Start for Life?

Click here to find about teams that support the Start for Life offer

The First 1001 days : The time from conception to 2 years old

What happens after the first 1001 days?

What is Early Help?

Click here to find out about Early Help Assessments and Targeted Family Support

What are Family Hubs?

Click here to find your nearest Family Hub

Family Hubs in the community

Where can I get more information?

Find us on Social Media

Join your local Family Hubs and Start for Life Parent Carers Panel

Local Offer Website

Help us improve the Virtual Family Hub

Who can help?

Be part of something BIG

Worried about a child? (Opens in New Window)

Childcare Providers Only : Provider Portal Login

School Professionals Only : School Access Module (SAM)