Kirklees family fair set to promote early support services across the region

In partnership with Kirklees Council’s Families Together programme, Thriving Kirklees will be hosting their first family fair at Ravensthorpe Community Centre on Garden street, on Thursday, March 9 between noon and 6pm.

The ‘fun’ and ‘engaging’ family focused event is directly aimed at children and young people aged 0-19 - or up-to 25 for young adults with special educational needs - and will be supported by a range of local service partners as well as providing a range of activities for children and families to enjoy.

These activities will include crafts, play and stay, henna painting, circus skills, wellbeing sessions, sports activities, magic tricks and free food and refreshments.

The event has been organised following discussions with carers, young people, families, and partners, which highlighted the need to improve how services support and work with children, young people, and families, as well as working ‘better together’ across services.

This event will make it easier for people to navigate support and provision, in a more ‘joined up’ way, whilst capturing the voices of local people through direct intervention.

Paveen Yaqub, Thriving Kirklees partnership manager, said: “This event is one tangible way of addressing some of the issues that came up during our discussions, including communicating what services are already available.

“The aim of the event is that different partners, who are involved locally, will come together to support an event which will be engaging, inviting and fun.

“We are committed to improving how families receive early support. It is about getting that information and knowing what's on offer so they can receive the support they need at the earliest point.

“We hope that the families who do attend will chat to people informally to give a bit of a sense of what's working for them and what they think is missing. This will really give us their insights and expertise because they are the experts of their own solutions.

“The services are there to listen and to rethink how they might deliver, or how they might continue to do what they are doing because it's working.

“This will give families the opportunity to help shape and influence how services engage with them in the future.

“We really want to push for that co-produced approach where local families lead decisions around how services are provided.”

Thriving Kirklees is a partnership of local health and wellbeing providers who work together to support children, young people and their families to thrive and be healthy.

For more information about Thriving Kirklees, visit https://www.thrivingkirklees.org.uk/