Celebrating sure start

Today thousands of families in the city will be using one of the many centres and services that are provided by the scheme.

What started as a trial centre in Weston in 2001 has grown into a network of 14 centres across the city all offering a mixture of services from health to learning, activity centres to support groups.

This week marks Sure Start Week aimed at celebrating what the scheme has done in the city, and encouraging more parents to get involved.

The idea behind Sure Start came out of research from the United States which found that a critical time for parents with new children was the first 18 months and then on into toddler-hood.

The services are specifically designed to help families in deprived areas who may not have had access to or the confidence to seek out the support on offer.

It is hoped by establishing links with families from an early stage the support will continue for both parents and children until they reach school.

It is a project that sees £3.3m of funding ploughed into it from central government, while further funding for health and education schemes comes from partnerships with Southampton City Council and the city’s primary care trust.

One of the longest established schemes is in the central area of the city and according to programme manager, Simon Dennison, the benefits are already being seen.

Figures that measure youngsters when they enter the reception year of school have shown massive improvements in the social and personal development along with literacy and communication.

In 2003 67 per cent of children had reached the national benchmark of personal development compared with a city average of 73 per cent.

In 2009 while the citywide average remained the same, the central Sure Start area figure had leapt to 76 per cent. When comparing literacy levels at the same age children in the central area recorded 45 per cent of children had reached the national target in 2009 compared to 32 per cent five years earlier. The city wide average this year was 51 per cent compared to 48 per cent in 2003.

Simon said: “Sure Start has made a huge difference to the families who use us. Without Sure Start in the city the lives of families would be poorer and there wouldn’t be the joined up approach to delivering and offering services that cane really make a difference to the early years of a child’s life.”