Family and wellbeing hub opens to help community

A new family and wellbeing hub was opened in Southway on Thursday

A family and wellbeing hub has opened in a part of Plymouth to support residents in need, the city council has said.

Southway Family and Wellbeing Hub opened on Thursday and offers advice on debt, housing, careers and also help for families.

Jemima Laing, deputy leader of Plymouth City Council and cabinet member for children's social care, said: "It works as a one stop shop for people in the local area who might need advice or support."

She said it was the eighth wellbeing hub and the ninth family hub to open in the city.

Plymouth Baby Bank, part of the hub, offered families free baby clothes at the opening

'One big family'

The wellbeing hub is part of a Plymouth City Council project and builds on work by the Southway Community Group and its volunteers.

Ms Laing said: "People really thrive when they have things on their doorstep, when they might be a bit worried, they might need a bit of support. There's debt advice, housing advice [and] careers advice."

The family hub is run by charity Barnardo's and supports people from pregnancy until young people are 19 years old, or until the age of 25 for people with special educational needs.

Lauren Woodrow, team manager at Barnardo's, said: "There are lots of professionals under one roof, in one place, so it makes accessing support much easier and straightforward for families."

She added the family hub offered support that included family and toddler groups, one-to-one support in the home and parenting courses.

Karen Stewart, the wellbeing adviser at the hub, said the opening event had been a success with "lots of other professionals coming together to give advice to the community in Southway".

She added: "We always say we're like one big family down here, but people are actually saying they can feel that when they come in so we pride ourselves on being very welcoming."