Wakefield Families Together shortlisted for the 2024 HSJ Awards – setting the standard for early intervention and prevention for children, young people and families

A partnership that aims to give every child in Wakefield District the best start in life has been shortlisted for a national award.

Wakefield Families Together: Integrated and Holistic Pathways to Support Children and Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Needs, has been shortlisted for the Early Intervention and Prevention for Children, Young People and Families Award at the HSJ Awards, recognising an outstanding contribution to supporting children and young people and securing a place at the prestigious awards ceremony later this year.

This partnership brings together organisations from across the district and beat off competition from over 1350 entries that have been received for this year’s Awards.

A key priority of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Wakefield District is to give every child the best start in life. As Wakefield Families Together, a Children’s Health Alliance was created to develop an environment where organisations could work together to design and deliver aligned pathways that are more responsive to need at an earlier point in the child’s journey – changing lifelong behaviours and outcomes.

The Children’s Alliance brings together commissioners and providers from acute and community services, including the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sector, who focused on supporting local children and young people through the community-based Family Hubs, provided dedicated healthcare and monitoring during evening and weekends through a Children’s Observation Hub and implemented a comprehensive emotional and mental health treatment and support service.

Cllr Margaret Isherwood, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “We are delighted to be shortlisted for this award, which is an opportunity for us to share our good practice around the support that we provide for children, young people and their families across Wakefield District.

“Whatever the result ‘on the night’, we already feel like winners for getting this far and are so proud to have the opportunity to share our success and showcase everything we’ve learnt through implementing our project.”

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, adds; “It always gives me great pleasure to congratulate our finalists at this stage of the judging process and this year is no exception as we acknowledge Wakefield District Health and Care Partnership for being shortlisted in the category of Early Intervention and Prevention for Children, Young People and Families Award.”

The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 21 November 2024.

The full list of nominees for the 2024 HSJ awards can be found at https://awards.hsj.co.uk/ alongside details of the Awards partners at https://awards.hsj.co.uk/partners.