Stockport Council is partnering with the charity Nesta to develop and deliver innovative services that will help give all children a fairer start in life.
Tom Symons, Deputy Director of Nesta’s Fairer Start mission, said:
“We want every child to have the same opportunities to thrive, but sadly that’s not the reality for too many children today. Through Fairer Start Local, we want to make sure that every parent and child has access to the support that they need to get on in life. We’ll be working with council experts who bring a wealth of knowledge, understanding and ideas about how to best support local families. Their strong connections with diverse local communities will help us to develop new approaches that really work for people, providing the right support at the right time and place.”
Councillor Colin Foster, Cabinet Member for Children, Family Services and Education, said:
“In Stockport we want every child to have the best start in life, that is why we are delighted to be a part of Fairer Start Local. By being a part of this programme it will allow us to reconsider how families are supported in the early years whilst building on local innovation, such as integration of speech therapists in Start Well teams to further develop and adapt our services to ensure all children in their earliest years of life reach their full potential.
“We look forward to furthering our use of innovation expertise as part of Fairer Start Local to learn from families about their needs. This will help us to develop a flexible range of services for families when they require additional help and support.”
Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Greater Manchester Combined Authority lead for Young People, said:
“It is part of our ambition to make sure that every child in Greater Manchester gets the best start in life. We are working on a number of different initiatives to close the school readiness gap and I am really pleased to be working with Nesta to develop innovative ways to support families and ensure that our children can thrive.”