Starting well

Best Start Family Hubs provide an opportunity to organise local support, so families experience one coherent system rather than multiple disconnected services. This creates a coherent, whole family approach that strengthens early help, integrates services and improves outcomes from pre- pregnancy through to adolescence.

Best Start Family Hubs act as the integrating infrastructure for the early years and family support system. They connect:

• The Healthy Child Programme
• Children’s Centre Core Offer
• Early help and family support
• Early years providers and schools
• Community and voluntary sector organisations
• SEND and wider health services

Best Start Family Hubs provide a visible and accessible front door to this broader system, making it easier for families to find the right support at the right time and enabling professionals to work together more effectively.

As part of the guidance, all local authority areas are required to have in place at least one Best Start Family Hub by April 1^st, 2026, and their future intentions, both in terms of around further Best Start Family Hubs and their wider vision and priorities for this agenda set out within a Best Start Local Plan.

What is happening

The Best Start Local Plan is the strategic framework developed by us to improve early childhood outcomes, focusing on health, education, and family support from pre-pregnancy to school age. It sets out a vision for this agenda through to 2030 and based on data and evidence is focused on five key priorities, these being:

• raise Good Level of Development (GLD) outcomes and narrow inequalities while improving early health outcomes
• strengthen early identification and SEND support and pathways
• enhance the Home Learning Environment (HLE) and family support
• strengthen parenting confidence through the delivery of evidence-based parenting programmes, peer support networks and increased promotion of play, talk and reading within Early Help and Early Years providers
• making the system visible and easy to navigate through improved digital access

The Plan can be accessed here:

The first Best Start Family Hub for Cheshire West and Chester was in place in Winsford from 1 April 2026, combining services at Over and Wharton as Best Start Family Hub Over and Best Start Family Hub Wharton. Overall, this will grow to become five Best Start Family Hubs focusing on our areas with the greatest needs in the following locations.

• Chester – Blacon
• Ellesmere Port – Stanlaw Abbey
• Northwich – Victoria Road
• Winsford – Over and Wharton.

The remaining sites will transition to the refreshed Best Start Family Hub identity through a phased rollout during 2026.

We are implementing a unified Best Start Family Hubs brand identity across its designated sites to provide a clear and easily identifiable access point for families. This reflects the strategic aim to create a consistent and recognisable offer across the borough’s early help and family support services.

Family hubs are both physical and virtual spaces. For further information about the services and locations of your local Family Hub, please visit Live Well.