Moorlands Family Centre supports communities across a range of wards in Milton Keynes. It is located in Beanhill, in Woughton and Fishermead Ward, ranked in the 3% of the most deprived areas in England.
Overview
Moorlands Family Centre supports communities across a range of wards in Milton Keynes. It is located in Beanhill, in Woughton and Fishermead Ward, ranked in the 3% of the most deprived areas in England.
The Centre sits in the centre of a bustling neighbourhood, located next to a Primary School and with a Nursery School in the same building. Along the road are cafes and shops, providing a sense of community and universality.
The centre is funded by Milton Keynes City Council and is part of ten family centres sitting across Milton Keynes. Milton Keynes were not one of the 88 local authorities that received Family Hub and Best Start in Life Funding from the national government in 2022 and therefore have thought creatively about how to maximise their services and the offer to ensure that families and the broader community have access to non-judgemental, universal services and trusted relationships with staff and volunteers.
The centre provides essential services to families with the youngest children and also offers sessions for older adults and vulnerable members of the community, working closely with adult social care to provide a space for people with learning disabilities to come together, meet new people and reduce social isolation.
The centre provides a welcoming space for health visitors to regularly engage with local families, offering an opportunity for families to learn about the centre and access its services. A weekly Community Postnatal Clinic, run by midwifery staff, supports new parents in the early stages of their journey. Staff work closely with the public health team to offer guidance on oral health - providing free toothbrushes and toothpaste - as well as advice on early years nutrition, healthy weight and access to Healthy Start vitamins. The team also supports eligible families in applying for the Healthy Start scheme, ensuring that families on low incomes can access this vital support.
Moorlands offers a wide range of sessions and activities for babies, children, young people, youth and families, including sensory play, parenting classes, stay-and-play groups, messy play, ESOL classes, healthy relationships courses, support for domestic abuse, a community larder, children’s football, a breakfast club, IT lessons, cooking classes, employability support – and much more.
With a thriving volunteer offer, the centre provides a space where individuals can connect, reduce isolation, and build relationships with staff. Volunteering has helped local residents feel more confident and engaged in their community, whilst gaining an accredited qualification. Many are also gaining new skills through qualifications offered by the city’s Adult Education Service, CLMK, including food hygiene, safety, and IT courses.
The centre brings together its oldest and youngest members through sessions like ‘Big Cook, Little Cook’, while also creating welcoming communal spaces that connect people from all walks of life. Events such as ‘World Diversity Day’ invite everyone to share food from their own backgrounds, encouraging connection, conversation, and celebration of different cultures.
Staff work closely with the central communications team to develop targeted marketing strategies aimed at encouraging families to attend the centre. This includes using social media, placing posters in high-footfall locations such as GP surgeries and libraries, and distributing leaflets at school gates to reach parents directly.
Challenges
The centre is powered by the vision, dedication, and creativity of its staff, who work tirelessly to support the local community, in the knowledge that early intervention and early help significantly benefits families and results in positive outcomes in the long term. They are constantly exploring innovative ways to expand their offer, ensuring that services remain responsive, inclusive, and meaningful to those who need them most. However, the centre often faces the challenge of short-term central government, project-specific funding, which can limit flexibility and hinder long-term planning and sustainability.
With sustained funding, the centre could build on its already comprehensive offer, empowering staff to reach more people, strengthen relationships and deepen its impact across the community, including identifying more targeted work to reach underserved communities. This would also allow for greater continuity in services and the ability to respond more effectively to emerging needs.
One such need is timely access to specialist support. For example, long waiting times for speech and language therapy can significantly delay early intervention for children, placing additional pressure on families and frontline staff. The introduction of speech and language champions in all centres ensures targeted support is offered to children whilst waiting for speech and language sessions.
Opportunities
Other services are recognising the value of the centre and are working in partnership to explore how to work together in delivering health services for example, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHs). By offering some space to CAMHs, the centre has been able to develop a relationship and explore how to support the centre’s users.
The centre staff support families in their contact with social care and are the front line in providing support and reducing the escalation of need, providing that trusted approach and ensuring child’s safety is at the forefront of all interactions.
Lessons for other areas
Milton Keynes Family Centres work closely with wider MKCC Children’s Services to identify needs and offer targeted support. For example, a dedicated ‘Time for Twos’ team make personal contact with families eligible for free early years education. Where it’s identified that families aren’t accessing, they make follow up contacts to better understand the barriers and what support is needed. Engaging with families in this way has resulted in 79% of eligible two year olds in Milton Keynes having a place at an approved early years provider.
In Milton Keynes, the network of Family Centres are an integral part of the wider Children’s Services structure. They are the welcoming places at the centre of the communities, places where families gather, share stories, and receive guidance. They help families find the right path before challenges become crises, offering tailored support and connecting them to other services.