The final evaluation reports are available to read on our website (English) (Cymraeg). The report is the culmination of an 18-month partnership between Save the Children Cymru, Action in Ely and Caerau, OASIS Cardiff and Cardiff Council Parents Plus, and Home Start Cymru. We are grateful to NESTA Cymru for their advice and guidance at the outset of the project.
Instinctively we knew that parents’ ability to support their children’s early-learning was being impacted by the toxic stress that poverty brings. We worked together to innovate and test approaches that combined two distinct elements – a financial grant to alleviate an immediate financial crisis, and a period of sustained support around early-childhood development. We worked with a rainbow of families in different circumstances – those experiencing in-work poverty, families seeking asylum, families living in insecure housing and parents with a disability. In all scenarios we found that the combination of financial and learning support reduced stress and increased parents’ confidence to support their children’s development. Parents are children’s first and most important educators and this project is testament to the positive difference that can be made when parents are supported and empowered.
Save the Children Cymru is committed to working in partnership with organisations in Wales to develop approaches that mitigate the devastating impact poverty can have on children’s life chances in order to give every child the best start in life.
Please share the reports and findings to your networks or on social media using #pausetoplay #hoeamhwyl @savechildrencym.
