Dorset is to get £2.3 million in government funding to grow and enhance its network of family hubs which provide support for children, parents and carers – and the Swanage and Wareham hubs are to get a slice of the cash.
The Swanage family hub was set up in 2024 in the new Focus Centre on the corner of Chapel Lane and the High Street, and adds to the services within the complex provided by Explorers Childcare, the day care centre for adults, the wellbeing information centre called the Welcome Lounge, and the soon to be launched community cafe.
The Focus Centre in Swanage is home to the family hub
Expanded programmes for three to four year olds
Wareham’s family hub is at the Purbeck Youth and Community Foundation, in its building next to the Purbeck Sports Centre in Worgret Road.
Now the government is expanding family hubs in England and has provided money over three years to enable that to happen.
Dorset Council says it’s going to spend some of its cash by opening three new family hubs in Blandford, Portland Hospital, and Weymouth Central in 2026.
The rest of the money will go to the eight existing hubs in the Dorset Council area, which are Swanage, Wareham, Bridport, Dorchester, Ferndown, Littlemoor, Sturminster Newton and Wimborne. They will continue to deliver services, with expanded programmes for three to four year olds.
Swanage’s children’s centre is now part of the Focus Centre complex
Sure Start to be rebranded as Best Start
This signals a return to the Sure Start programme which was first set up in 1998 under a Labour government and saw the creation of children’s centres to support local families with children aged under five, including health services, parenting support, early learning and childcare, and parental employment support.
Funding was reduced in 2010 under a Conservative government and many local authorities closed their children’s centres. But in 2021, the Conservative government announced the creation of family hubs superseding the Sure Start children’s centres, and offering a wider range of services, supporting children from their conception through to early adulthood.
In April 2024, an Institute for Fiscal Studies report on the educational impact of the Sure Start programme found that “children who lived within a short distance (2.5 kilometres) of a Sure Start centre for their first five years performed 0.8 grades better in their GCSEs”, with “larger impacts for those from the poorest backgrounds and those from non-white backgrounds”.
In July 2025, the Labour government relaunched Sure Start with new funding and rebranded the scheme as Best Start. The aim is to create a thousand new Best Start hubs by the end of 2028 to replace the more than 1,400 children’s centres closed since 2010 under the previous Coalition and Conservative governments.
The Swanage children’s centre will be part of a rejuvenated Best Start family hub
“Give children the best possible start in life”
Dorset Council cabinet member for children’s services, education and skills, Clare Sutton said:
“This funding is a real boost for families in Dorset and will make it easier for parents and carers to find the help they need, when they need it, all in one place and closer to home.
“By working together with health and community partners, we’re creating hubs that truly put children and families first and give children the best possible start in life.”
Herston village hall in West Swanage hosts some family support activities
Family services returning to the local community
Swanage’s original Children Centre is now part of the Focus Centre complex run by the Swanage and Purbeck Development Trust, and while it never closed down, services were reduced from the original concept.
The establishment of the family hub in Swanage has seen the return of the health visitor clinic and baby weighing, and child speech and language therapy. The Breast Feeding Network infant feeding support group continues, along with baby group events.
More family activities take place at Herston village hall in West Swanage, which is also run by the Swanage and Purbeck Development Trust.
The Seahorses Toddler Group meets at the village hall on Wednesdays and a new baby weaning course will start on 22nd January 2026.
The free Mush and Munch weaning sessions are run by the Friendly Food Club and aimed at introducing babies to solid food in a way that increases confidence, reduces anxiety and sets families up for healthier eating.
While surprising that these vital child services were ever reduced in Swanage, with mothers at one time having to travel to Wareham to get their babies weighed shortly after giving birth, it is a clear benefit to the community that these family services have returned and look to be expanded in Swanage in 2026
Further information
- More about Swanage family hub activities on The Focus Centre website
- To book a free place Mush and Munch weaning course book online, call 01202 057100 or drop in to the Welcome Lounge at the Focus Centre, High Street, Swanage.
- More about the Wareham family hub
