Making an early start on the Library Journey – potential partners

This list of potential partners has been compiled to help libraries library staff set up and deliver services to parents- to- be as part of the Child’s Library Journey. It is organised by type of organisation (statutory, voluntary sector, local and commercial) and where possible gives a starting place for finding your local services. Remember that many of these services are organised differently in individual local authorities and are sometimes called something else or delivered by an organisation that has been externally commissioned.

Each local authority will have an Early Years service which is responsible for working with children 0-5 and their families and the staff in this service should also be able to help with information about local services for parents- to- be. The Early Years service usually manages the Family Information Service which holds information about services for families with children, including childcare and early education provision (nurseries, childminders and playgroups). This information is available on line.

The list includes a short description of the role of these services as some are more familiar than others.

Statutory services

Community Health Services (GPs or Health Centres) / Provide primary care services and often the base for midwives and other early intervention services e.g. Health Advocates / The Clinical Commissioning Group for your area will have a web site which lists services.
Family Nurse Partnership / Works 1:1 with young, first time, vulnerable mothers- to- be. A NHS service which is commissioned by individual local authorities – not a national service /
Health Visitors / Provide support to new babies and parents, Tthe level of support depends on individual family circumstances. From October 2015, HVs are commissioned or directly provided by local authorities. /

Healthwatch / National consumer champion in health and care with statutory powers. Has a local body in each geographical area. /
Leisure Centres / A public service funded by a mix of public money and fees. Often managed by an arm’s length group or trust rather than directly by the local authority. Will provide services targeted at families and may also have some specifically for pregnant women. / Information will be available on the local authority web site.
Midwives / Provide support to expectant mothers and deliver babies. They can be based in the community ( Health Centres or e.g., for example in Children’s Centres) or hospitals. A NHS service. /
Music Education Hubs / The Arts Council is responsible for ensuring every area is covered by a hub, funded by the Department for Education. Hubs provide access to qualityand excellence in music education for children and young people. /
Speech and Llanguage tTherapists / Often abbreviated to SALT. Each local authority will have its own service. Speech and language therapy provides treatment, support and care for children and adults who have difficulties with communication, or with eating, drinking and swallowing. /
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) teams / SEND teams are based in the local authority and will have responsibility for supporting families where a child has an additional need. Again,cChildren’s Ccentres will be a good starting point for finding out about the local arrangements.
Sure Start/Children’s Centres / Children’s cCentres vary enormously across the country in terms of what they do and who they work with. A local authority responsibility but many of the services can be provided by other organisations. A good place to start if this is a new area of work as they will know how services for families are organised locally.
Some Children’s cCentres still have Ffamily
Ssupport Wworkers and they can be a useful link into families in the community, including parents-to-be. / Information will be available on the Family Information Service web site for each Local Authority

Voluntary organisations: National with a local group/local access

Action for Children / Action for Children run a range of services for children and their families nationally and in local areas. /
Kodaly / The British Kodály Academy promotes the advancement of British music education,following the teachings of ZoltánKodály.The Kodály Approach – musicianship through singing – provides tools to developfundamentals such as pulse, inner hearing, good tuning and sight reading ability. They can provide music teachers and run courses and workshops. /
Mumsnet / Mumsnet is one of the UK's largest websites for parents. It hosts discussion forums where users share peer-to-peer advice and information on parenting, products and many other issues. /
NCT / Organisation which provides support for parents and parents to be. Has There are many local groups. /
Singing Hands / Singing Hands have produced a collection of downloadable signed song sheets featuring Makaton line drawings. With each song sheet there is a link to the corresponding nursery rhyme mp3 which is available to download via iTunes. /
St John’s Ambulance / May provide courses e.g. in baby first aid. /
Words for Life / Words for Life have range of tools, songs and suggestions to aid the development of babies and young children. /

In addition to the groups listed above there will be local organisations specific to a town or local authority area, which provide information, advice and support to families and parents- to- be. These may include local groups working with communities either geographically based (on an estate or in a village or town) or organised by sections of communities (for example a local Asian or Chinese women’s group). There may also be a women’s group or women’s centre.

Your local Children’s Centre is always a good place to find out about these groups.

Businesses and commercial organisations

The list below suggests companies and services that might help with promoting library based activities or that a library might want to work with for an information event. Inclusion in this list is not a recommendation and a local community may have other types of local services or businesses that it would be helpful to contact.

Businesses / Local services
Boots or other national pharmacy chain / Baby shops
Mothercare / Toy shops
Halfords (car seats) / Card/balloon shops
IKEA / Craft shops
Photographers
Independent pharmacies
IKEA / Soft play areas

Childcare providers

There are several different types of childcare providers. This is a very brief guide and as outlined above, the local Family Information Service is the best place to find out contact details for the one’s in a local area..

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