Community Newsletter 5th March 2021

Community & Partnerships Update

Following the Children’s Commissioner’s call for children to receive more support to counteract the toll lockdown has taken, Channel 5 News filmed at Home-Start Greenwich. Director, Leann Cross says “Families who’ve never sought our help before now need food, fuel, clothing and emotional support” Watch the full report below:
 

The pandemic has pushed many working mothers to breaking point. Juggling family and career is nothing new, but working a full-time job while simultaneously home schooling children for many weeks is unprecedented. A recent TUC report revealed that women are shouldering the lion’s share of this responsibility, and that a lack of employer flexibility has left mums in an impossible situation. So how are these women coping? And for those that aren’t, why do they feel so reluctant to talk about their struggles? Emma Barnett speaks to mum-of-three Annie about her experience. She’s also joined by Sam Smethers, who recently stepped back from her role as chief executive of the Fawcett Society, and Leann Cross, the Director of Homestart in Greenwich.
You can listen to the full interview by clicking on the tab below. Most of the programme focusses on the struggles of juggling home life and career during the pandemic.  If you wish to jump to Leann’s comments, she is brought into the conversation just after 18:20 minutes.
 

Home-Start UK joined Best Beginnings and the Parent-Infant Foundation to reveal key findings from an online survey of over 5,000 parents that highlight the chronic under resourcing of services for families, the inequalities in babies’ early experiences and its worsening forecast due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The three charities – who all work to improve outcomes for parents and children with a focus on the early years – warn that many families with lower incomes, young parents and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, will have been hit hardest by the pandemic. 

Download the report here.

The results highlight a range of issues facing parents surveyed, revealing the devastating impact on babies as well as their parents, from increased mental health concerns and difficult birthing experiences, to dads and other co-parents being excluded from the pregnancy journey and digital health appointments reported as leaving some women feeling exposed and humiliated. The ramifications of the lockdown have been detrimental, and could cast a long shadow going forward for parents and babies alike.

Visit www.babiesinlockdown.info 

Evidence shows that the first 1,001 days of a child’s life, from pregnancy to age two lay the foundations for a happy and healthy life. The support and wellbeing of babies during this time is strongly linked to better outcomes later in life, including educational achievement, progress at work, physical and mental health. Around 2,000 babies are born in the UK every day which means that over 200,000 babies were born between 23rd March and 4th July – the most intense period of lockdown.  

Listen to Sabrinas story of her experience, fears and triumphs of having a baby during the pandemic.