On Tuesday 15th July, Mr Stephen Morgan MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Education, visited Babyzone Hammersmith & Fulham to meet local families, engage with community partners, and experience Babyzone’s unique early years model first-hand.
Showcasing a Community-Led Approach to Early Years Support
During the visit, Minister Stephen Morgan observed how Babyzone creates a warm, welcoming and collaborative environment for families. Babyzone offers free, high-quality early years programming alongside wraparound family support, helping to reduce barriers for parents and carers during the critical early stages of childhood development.
The Minister’s visit provided an opportunity to see Babyzone’s partnership model in action, with multiple services co-located under one roof. Local families are supported not just through play and learning sessions, but also through a holistic network of care, including:
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Hammersmith & Fulham Council Healthy Homes Team
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Kinship Carers UK
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Midaye Somali Development Network
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NHS North West London services, including speech and language therapy, oral health, and infant feeding support
Scaling Impact: A Proven Model for Family Hubs
Since launching in 2019, Babyzone has welcomed over 70,000 attendances across its seven centres. An impressive 97% of parents report positive changes to their parenting experience after engaging with Babyzone services.
This track record positions Babyzone as a key partner in the government’s Best Start for Life Family Hubs initiative. By sharing Babyzone’s proven grassroots model, there’s a clear opportunity to scale up what’s already working for families at the local level.
A Vision for Lasting Change
Speaking about the visit, Charles Mindenhall, Babyzone Co-founder and Chair, said:
“If we get early years right, we won’t just solve one of society’s problems—we’ll solve them all. We’re ready to help government scale what’s already working. The first years last forever.”
