Baby Bump
Baby breastfeeding
Premature babies in an incubator
Dad pulling faces with baby son
smiling baby
Toddlers crawling
Community play session
Family reading bed to baby
Partnership working
Workforce training session
brainstorming session
Workforce meeting
Co-production session
Co-production session
confererence networking event
Conference stage
Teaching tooth-brushing
stay and play session
Outdoor play with a toddler
Proud mum in library
Schools ready girl at the park
Better Start

Real change for childhoods

Better Start is a team of early child development experts driven by a shared vision of real and lasting change for childhoods, from pregnancy to starting school. We develop early years systems across the UK using our bespoke approach. Keeping infants’ voices at heart, we transform services, bring people together and put research into action.

 We are ready to work with you to make real change for childhoods.
Workforce networking at a Better Start conference

Local Relevance, National Influence

Better Start exists to work together with leaders, professionals and parents to give all children the best possible start to life, from conception to Reception. 

The UK Government’s reprioritisation of reforming early years means place-based and evidence-based approaches like Better Start’s are now of critical significance.

Reducing pressures on families equals better outcomes for children

Building the capabilities of parents through social support, encouraging self-efficacy and improving parent, child and couple relationships can drastically cut through added pressures and put the child’s wellbeing front and centre.

Community connecter offering support to a family
Mum looking down protectively at bump

The benefits of preventative action for local authorities and other organisations. 

It’s been proven that work from the start can effectively prevent the negative impacts of trauma and other negative pressures from impacting outcomes. Prevention can also save huge amounts of money compared to funding expensive remedial efforts further down the line.

Systems Building, not Systems Change

Learn more about building effective systems that enable meaningful change with our report written by Clare Law, Director of Better Start, and Chris Cuthbert of the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Social Research Institute, University College London.

Systems Building Report
Think Baby Event

Sharing our learning

Our Knowledge Hub is regularly updated with the latest reports and papers. 

Featured reports:

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Collective Strategy

School Readiness

The Better Start Partnership has collectively joined up systems and developed a shared and consistent understanding and approach towards school readiness across professionals and parents. Improving outcomes for children at the beginning of their educational journey.

Read the report

Committed Leadership

Collaborative Codesign

The Blackpool Born into Care project has brought together people with different professional backgrounds and those with lived experience to reduce the high numbers of babies that are taken into care particularly from the same families.

Read the report

Committed families and community

Community Connectors

The Community Connector programme utilises a paid peer support model to engage Blackpool families in early years services and provide consistent, reliable child development and public health messages.

Read the report

What people say about us

We have worked with a variety of organisations and professionals.
 “It’s been fantastic working with Better Start. We have learnt so much from the support of the team which we have been able to adapt for our families in Carmarthenshire.”
 Caryl Alban
Carmathenshire County Council
 “Setting the collective vision for Blackpool Better Start enabled all agencies to see how their own work could make a difference for families with young children. It also led us to realise what a critical contribution Better Start could make to our wider ambitions for regeneration and renewal of Blackpool. When we invest in early childhood, we are investing in the future of our town.”
Neil Jack, Chief Executive,
Blackpool Council
 “For me, Blackpool Better Start is one of the most fascinating and influential pieces of work that the NSPCC is involved in.””

 

Peter Wanless, Former CEO
NSPCC
 “I was delighted and inspired by my visit to Blackpool. What impressed me was the innovative partnerships I saw delivering for babies and children and the willingness to explore new ways of doing things.”
Dame Rachel de Souza
Children’s Commissioner for England
 “Better Start is an inspiring example of how important and impactful it can be to bring organisations together – with a common vision and a steely determination – to listen to people at a local level and put families at the centre of services.”
Christian Guy, Director,
The Royal Foundation for Early Childhood

Impact

Since 2015, Better Start in Blackpool has been innovating, testing and crucially thinking differently about one of the most critical and challenging areas of public service: pregnancy and the early years.

Blackpool Better Start has focused over the last decade to improving outcomes for babies and young children.