Published 21 February 2025
Families in West Dunbartonshire are reaping the benefits of specialist help and support from Whole Family Wellbeing funding across the area.
The Hubs were introduced as part of work to improve family wellbeing, reduce inequalities between the most and least disadvantaged communities and reduce the number of families needing crisis intervention.
Over the last year the three hubs in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Alexandria have supported 189 children and 36 families with a further 75 families currently being supported via the hubs.
Since August last year, the service has helped refer 55 families to specialist services with 300 families attending drop-in sessions over the summer. A further 73 parents and carers and 153 children engaged in group work and attended movie screenings from August to December.
The hubs offer a range of universal, targeted and specialist services offering help and support, to help encourage families to flourish. The diverse range of specialist support include Neurodevelopmental workers; Education Outreach workers; Speech and Language Therapists; Occupational Therapists and Family Nursing staff.
Councillor Martin Rooney, Chair of West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership, said: “I am pleased to see the high numbers of families who have used the wellbeing hubs and I am very grateful to our dedicated employees who work tirelessly supporting our families and young people. Our hubs are ensuring we provide the right support at the right time and all delivered at a local venue to suit the people who need support. It is also pleasing to see our partners continuing to work together to re-align our resources and priorities offering a range of specialist services and family support which is timely and accessible with early intervention and prevention at its core.”
Councillor Clare Steel, Convener of Educational Services, said: “The figures show there is a need for this support and I am pleased to see the hubs have been so busy offering this additional support to our families. It must be very reassuring to know that local support and advice is available and our friendly and engaging staff are there to help and support families.”