In this month's article, I thought I would update readers with what I got up to earlier this month.

Well, I guess it would come as no surprise to some readers to read that I attended the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

From a geographical perspective, I admit that it is a little bit further away from my local patch here in Littleham but I felt I would share with you feedback from one of the fringe events I went to supported by Barnardo's.

As a councillor I was invited by Barnardo's to attend this reception to consider the topic of 'levelling up' for children and young people attended by Kelly Tolhurst MP amongst other guests.

It was a very positive event which I felt reinforced the government's commitment to levelling up the life chances for children and young people.

Deprivation in Exmouth Littleham

As a local councillor in Littleham, readers will be aware that it is a very deprived ward.

The evidence for this is according to the government's Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), a small number of East Devon's Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) were in the most deprived 20% of LSOAs in the country in 2019. 

The two most deprived LSOAs are in Littleham, Exmouth and St. Pauls, Honiton ward.

I recognise as a result that as Lynn Perry, Barnardos CEO states: "Child poverty is increasing, health inequalities for children are entrenched, the attainment gap for disadvantaged children has widened and the number of children in care is rising.

"The government must prioritise progress on all these measures. Extending family hubs to every community in particular could help to provide support for struggling families and can save money in the long-term. Investing in children today will secure their wellbeing for the future".

Readers will no doubt ask the question how do we know this family hub type approach would work?

Well, the evidence to support the work of such family hubs comes from a Barnardo's hub based in Armagh Dungannon in Northern Ireland which support parents and children at the earliest possible opportunity by ensuring that family support service providers work together, to improve access to family support services for all parents and children and to help planners know what families need in order to provide better services.

Help is at hand in Exmouth

However, there is good news in that you do not have to travel that far to seek help. I am pleased to say that here in Exmouth we have the Open Door Charity which has its own Parent Hub which is a space that champion's parents in the local community through its Parent Hub Cafe, 1:1 Parent Care, Baby Bank and more.

Taken from the Open Door website: "This hub has three main objectives: firstly, transforming journeys together with parents by providing encouragement, knowledge, resources, so families feel equipped to respond to challenges they face as a parent and find a renewed sense of hope.

"Secondly, learning from each other in a welcoming space, where children can play and everyone can access a creative activity, workshop, baby bank or 1:1 parent care appointment, depending on their need.

"And thirdly creating a culture of acknowledgment for where each parent are on their own journey, championing each other and identifying that every parent is a specialist in their child's life."

All this is very valuable and will help towards levelling up the life chances for children and young people which we all want to see happen.

To conclude, it is really pleasing to see that children's life chances are being placed so high on the political agenda.

This article has shown that the good work that is being done by Barnardo's nationally can also be found here in Exmouth's Open Door. This in turn leads back to the EDDC's work on poverty namely one of its five strategic objectives which is strengthening families and communities, including supporting groups of people that are more likely to experience poverty, and community and voluntary groups working to combat poverty.

If you would like to know more about the work of Open Door please click here.

If you would like to know more about Barnardo's please click here.

If you would like to find your ward councillor please click here.