Family Hubs news

Oldham's Family Hubs have spent the past year quietly turning everyday stories of struggle into ones of steadier breathing. Parents who once cried daily say they now stay calm through the 10-week council-run course, while others trace their child's first real conversation back to home literacy visits. The network has grown from a single site to seven, the latest opened in September, and each one doubles as a drop-in for coats, prams and duvets when the heating allowance does not stretch.

Winter has become the hubs' busiest season. In October, Our Community Wardrobe restocked the rails for the third year running, and by November more than 100 families had already picked up warm layers. One mother left with a replacement pram after hers broke; another collected a duvet so her children could sleep without sharing.

The same buildings host smaller circles that rarely make headlines. Dads meet for evenings that teach emotional coaching instead of discipline; single father John Taylor credits the space with pulling him 'back from the brink'. Babies born early, like Abbie Marriott's, are welcomed into Baby Bonding sessions where mothers practise reading tiny cues and leave with 'the best tools' for the sleepless weeks ahead.

Literacy coaches travel to living rooms in Royton and beyond, part of the Making it REAL programme that pairs books with everyday chat. One parent noticed her shy daughter 'came out of her shell' after a visitor spent time on the floor, simply talking and listening. The council counts these visits as early intervention, cheaper than later catch-up classes and gentler on family pride.

Expansion continues: a £3.6 million programme is funding the hubs, and the consultation window for the remaining sites closed in January after thousands of visits to the first. Staff say the waiting lists are shorter than they feared but longer than they like, especially for the parenting course that runs each term. The question now is how much further goodwill can stretch before the next winter arrives.