Parents, staff and children welcomed Dame Rachel on 21 May as she spoke to them about the future.
Her visit started with a tour around the Outstanding Hub, she was accompanied by staff who explained all about the services offered at Little Harwood.
The hub is one of four Best Start Family Hubs in the borough alongside Darwen, Livesey, and Shadsworth. They help support a key part of the vision for integrated family services, bringing together health, education, early years, and wider services to give families a cohesive offer of support.
Councillor Julie Gunn, Executive Member for Children, Young People & Education was at the visit, she said:
“It was a pleasure to meet with the Children’s Commissioner and share the incredible work that our Children’s Services do, day in, day out to support our borough’s families. I’m always proud to see the response of high-profile visitors when they see the passion and commitment that we have in Blackburn with Darwen to making sure that every child and young person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. The work of our Family Hubs is crucial in helping children become school ready and sharing how we do that with the Commissioner was a real joy.”
Dame De Souza then had an opportunity to meet the children. The children explored the theme of ‘what makes them happy in their world’ and had prepared cards to share with Rachel, highlighting what they would like to see in their world.
The hub was alive with usual activity including Infant Feeding Support Group, Stay and Play Group, Toileting Workshop, Two Year Development Checks, Midwifery Appointments, Smoking Cessation Support and Family Help Multi-disciplinary team meeting.
Dame Rachel has completed the two largest-ever surveys of children The Big Ask in 2021 with over half-a-million responses and The Big Ambition in 2024.
The visit was also to launch her final survey to build on the voices she has captured to present young people’s ideas to politicians and policy makers about how to make their lives better in the future.
In The Big Future, she wants to hear from children about how to make children’s lives better in the future, about the big challenges that face the future of childhood, and about democratic engagement as we prepare for the biggest change to the franchise in generations. This included a visit to Blackburn Youth Zone.
To find out more visit the The Big Future website.