Children and family centres

We want every child in Waltham Forest to get the Best Start in Life. This means ensuring all parents and carers can access the support they need to help their children's growth and development.  To keep up to date with the latest news, events, and information sign up to receive our newsletter.

Meet our Best Start in Life superheroes. A group of six unique characters who will help us, and our Early Years partners engage with families in Waltham Forest. 

Find Helpful Hakeem, Curious Carina, and their other super-friends at our brilliant Family Hubs. Get information, advice, and support on a wide range of topics including family support, health, child development, free early years education, and training and development. 

These sessions aim to help with your child’s communication and social skills whilst building support networks with other parents and carers in the borough.  

All parents, guardians, and carers are welcome at our hubs.

Register for the nearest Family Hub online or visit one in person to get to know our staff.

Find out what's on at your nearest Family Hub and download the Family Hub timetable and save it on your device. 

Register

Register online or in person at your nearest centre.

We provide group activities for children to learn and develop through play and for parents to learn about their children.

They are a great way to meet other mums, dads, and carers.

Play sessions include story time, music and rhymes, sensory experiences, messy play, arts and crafts, and much more.

Informative sessions and courses on baby massages, building closer relationships, communication and language, food and nutrition, active families, healthy teeth, feeding, and sleep support.

Health and child development

Midwives, health visitors and infant feeding specialists all work together in our centres to support parents and provide child health checks:

• Health Visiting Service (GP Care Group) - offer regular virtual and home visit appointments and baby weight clinics
• HENRY (Healthy exercise and nutrition for really young) - infant feeding helpline, infant feeding workshops, one to one support on fussy eating, dental health, speech, language and communication

Remember to register for your eRedbook, the NHS secure digital child health record.

Parenting and family support

Lloyd Park Children's Charity (LPCC) offer the following parent support groups and programmes:

• Flourish - a support group for parents with low mood or high anxiety levels  
• Somewhere to belong - a group for children with special educational needs 
   
• One-to-one family support for children 0 to 5 years

Contact familysupport@tlpcc.org.uk

They also provide baby and food banks:

• Call 020 8527 1737
• Email babybank@tlpcc.org.uk

Related council services and teams we work with

• Childcare and Early Years - search for childcare and get help with childcare costs
• Early Help and Parenting - one to one family and parenting support in the home
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) - support and activities for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) - if you need help caring for or worried about the welfare of a child 
• Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) - support for families affected by domestic abuse is available
• Adult Learning Service - work, training, skills, and learning English
• Benefits and money advice - see what financial support is available to you