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A Better Start Southend
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af Afrikaanssq Albanianam Amharicar Arabichy Armenianaz Azerbaijanieu Basquebe Belarusianbn Bengalibs Bosnianbg Bulgarianca Catalanceb Cebuanony Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)co Corsicanhr Croatiancs Czechda Danishnl Dutchen Englisheo Esperantoet Estoniantl Filipinofi Finnishfr Frenchfy Frisiangl Galicianka Georgiande Germanel Greekgu Gujaratiht Haitian Creoleha Hausahaw Hawaiianiw Hebrewhi Hindihmn Hmonghu Hungarianis Icelandicig Igboid Indonesianga Irishit Italianja Japanesejw Javanesekn Kannadakk Kazakhkm Khmerko Koreanku Kurdish (Kurmanji)ky Kyrgyzlo Laola Latinlv Latvianlt Lithuanianlb Luxembourgishmk Macedonianmg Malagasyms Malayml Malayalammt Maltesemi Maorimr Marathimn Mongolianmy Myanmar (Burmese)ne Nepalino Norwegianps Pashtofa Persianpl Polishpt Portuguesepa Punjabiro Romanianru Russiansm Samoangd Scottish Gaelicsr Serbianst Sesothosn Shonasd Sindhisi Sinhalask Slovaksl Slovenianso Somalies Spanishsu Sudanesesw Swahilisv Swedishtg Tajikta Tamilte Teluguth Thaitr Turkishuk Ukrainianur Urduuz Uzbekvi Vietnamesecy Welshxh Xhosayi Yiddishyo Yorubazu Zulu
City Family Your Family

City Family Your Family

Project Update

City Family CIC has remodelled its services, with all children and family services being delivered as City Family YourFamily. With effect from 1st April 2025, the YourFamily project will continue as part of this.

To learn more about ABSS programme changes beyond 31 st March 2025, by visiting the Beyond ABSS webpage.

City Family YourFamily

City Family YourFamily provides sessions for all families living in Southend from pregnancy to when their child starts secondary school. This includes
drop-in stay and play sessions, antenatal and baby massage courses and an Information and Guidance Service.

The Information and Guidance Service is open six days a week, offering support to parents in a range of ways including over the telephone, email, live chat, an interactive website and in-person.

Parents can also continue to receive one-to-one support.

The majority of services are free except baby massage.

Visit the City Family Website
City Family YourFamily
City Family Explorers

City Family Explorers

City Family Explorers Creche is all about creating a safe, nurturing environment for the little ones who
use it. Every child deserves the very best start in life and that’s what the creche will provide.

Based at the SAVS building (29 – 31 Alexandra Street, Southend), the team provides childcare support
whilst parents/carers attend projects, workshops and meetings.

All Creche staff have enhanced DBS checks, a minimum level 3 qualification in early years and
childcare, First Aid and Safeguarding training. They have a full training plan to keep their knowledge
relevant and up to date and to offer the best childcare possible.

Dads Connect

DadsConnect is for fathers and male carers to make connections, access parenting support and make use of family friendly spaces to spend time with their children. 121 support is also provided in ways that work for fathers. Social Actions projects also bring children’s male role models together to tackle a local issue or develop a community space.

From January 2025, the service will change to weekly drop-in sessions for dads/male carers and their youngest children, as well as the provision of 121 support through live chat or in person. There will also be online groups and quarterly social action projects across Southend, Castle Point and Rochford, which will see groups of dads and male carers come together to improve their community through volunteering.

Dads Connect
The Playroom

The Playroom

With effect from 1st April 2025, the larger ABSS Parent, Family and Community Hub space will close with a new, smaller be adapted into The Playroom – a one-room early years focused space, called The Playroom, delivered in partnership between SAVS and City Family CIC.

The Playroom will be a bookable place for organisations working with early years families to deliver courses, drop-in sessions and specialist groups. It will be available for free to current ABSS delivery partners and community groups working with early years families for block bookings and pre-planned sessions only.

Booking requests must be made by emailing yfsouthend@cityfamily.org.uk

Let’s Play - Families in Hostels (CID Fund project)

City Family Explorers are working with Southend Specialist Health Visiting team to offer group play and 1-to-1 play sessions for families living in hostel accommodation. This project offers the chance for families to come together and connect during group sessions, as well as supporting children to access toys and play materials which they may not have access to, whilst living in hostel accommodation. The City Family Explorers team can signpost parents onto other services too.

Family Network Meetings Pilot (CID Fund project)

A Family Network Meeting (FNM) is a structured gathering of a family’s extended network, including relatives and significant non-blood-tied individuals who play a crucial role in the family’s life. Initial conversations are held with the child’s parents/primary carers to draw out the suitability of the extended family. These meetings are designed to facilitate open dialogue, support, and cooperative planning to address potential or emerging family challenges.

 

The aim is to harness the collective strength and resources of the family network to support families experiencing emerging problems and prevent issues from escalating.

 

Beyond ABSS grant end in March 2025, Southend City Council and City Family will build this project into their core offer to families.

 

City Family is part of Southend City Council’s Early Help Offer, further information on what else is available can be found here:

https://safeguardingsouthend.co.uk/information-for-children/

Session times and contact details

City Family YourFamily will be operating from Socata House in Westcliff (open to the public six days a
week) and The Playroom at SAVS (booked sessions only).

Services are available Monday to Thursday 10.30am – 7.00pm and Friday and Saturdays 10.30am – 3.00pm.

Please see the City Family website for more details.

A better start family help

Visit City Family’s Service Map to explore services available to families across the city of Southend.

City Family Service Map

Visit the Service Map
A better start family help

Visit our Legacy Resource Packs page for useful resources, links, tips and downloads.

Legacy Resource Packs

View our Resource Packs

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A better Start Southend cartoon

Beyond ABSS: What Next?

Click here for the Beyond ABSS webpage to find out the latest updates on the future of ABSS.

 

A decade of A Better Start Southend: Ten years of supporting families and learning for the future.

Visit the Beyond ABSS webpage