Key Impact Data
This has been a positive year for Children & Families, with significant achievements across our services and continued growth in our support for local communities.
Our childcare services supported slightly fewer individual children than in the previous year. This reflects changes to the Government's funded childcare entitlement for working parents, which increased from 15 to 30 hours. As a result, we have been able to provide more hours of support to the same children and families, enabling greater continuity of care, stronger relationships and improved early years development outcomes.
We were also proud that Seashells Nursery underwent its first Ofsted inspection under the new framework, achieving at least the Expected Standard in all areas, with Children's Welfare and Wellbeing recognised as being a Strong Standard. This is a significant achievement and reflects the dedication, professionalism and quality of our staff team.
Our family support services saw a slight reduction in activity compared with the previous year, primarily due to reduced funding availability. However, demand for support remains exceptionally high as many families continue to face the ongoing effects of the cost-of-living crisis. Fuel poverty, food insecurity and financial hardship continue to place significant pressure on children and families across our communities.
We were delighted to secure the Holidays, Activities and Food (HAF) programme contract, enabling us to expand our provision by 43.5% compared with the previous year. This growth has allowed us to support more children and young people during school holiday periods, helping to reduce holiday hunger, improve wellbeing and provide positive opportunities for learning and development.
2025 also marked the 20th Anniversary of Seashells Children & Families Centre. We celebrated this milestone through a community event attended by more than 1,300 local people, making it the largest single event in our organisation's history. The celebration provided an opportunity to reflect on two decades of supporting local families and to recognise the lasting impact the centre continues to have within the community.
Our food services experienced substantial growth, with a 30% increase in food tonnage distributed during the year to over 1,310 tonnes of food provided to good causes across Kent and Medway. We have continued to expand our Kent Community Pantry network, making affordable food more accessible to communities across Kent and Medway. We now operate 10 community pantries and are beginning to see a reduction in reliance on our Family Food Bank services as more families access sustainable, longer-term support through the pantry model.
We were also pleased to successfully renew our Cyber Essentials accreditation, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our digital infrastructure and to maintain our Disability Confident accreditation through the Department for Work and Pensions, reaffirming our commitment to equality, inclusion and accessible employment practices.
Overall, this has been another successful year. Despite ongoing challenges and increasing demand for support, we have continued to adapt, innovate and grow. The impact of our work over the past 12 months has remained strong, and we remain committed to our vision of improving the lives of children and their families so they can have the best opportunities in life. We look forward to building on these achievements and continuing this important work in the year ahead.
Our childcare services supported slightly fewer individual children than in the previous year. This reflects changes to the Government's funded childcare entitlement for working parents, which increased from 15 to 30 hours. As a result, we have been able to provide more hours of support to the same children and families, enabling greater continuity of care, stronger relationships and improved early years development outcomes.
We were also proud that Seashells Nursery underwent its first Ofsted inspection under the new framework, achieving at least the Expected Standard in all areas, with Children's Welfare and Wellbeing recognised as being a Strong Standard. This is a significant achievement and reflects the dedication, professionalism and quality of our staff team.
Our family support services saw a slight reduction in activity compared with the previous year, primarily due to reduced funding availability. However, demand for support remains exceptionally high as many families continue to face the ongoing effects of the cost-of-living crisis. Fuel poverty, food insecurity and financial hardship continue to place significant pressure on children and families across our communities.
We were delighted to secure the Holidays, Activities and Food (HAF) programme contract, enabling us to expand our provision by 43.5% compared with the previous year. This growth has allowed us to support more children and young people during school holiday periods, helping to reduce holiday hunger, improve wellbeing and provide positive opportunities for learning and development.
2025 also marked the 20th Anniversary of Seashells Children & Families Centre. We celebrated this milestone through a community event attended by more than 1,300 local people, making it the largest single event in our organisation's history. The celebration provided an opportunity to reflect on two decades of supporting local families and to recognise the lasting impact the centre continues to have within the community.
Our food services experienced substantial growth, with a 30% increase in food tonnage distributed during the year to over 1,310 tonnes of food provided to good causes across Kent and Medway. We have continued to expand our Kent Community Pantry network, making affordable food more accessible to communities across Kent and Medway. We now operate 10 community pantries and are beginning to see a reduction in reliance on our Family Food Bank services as more families access sustainable, longer-term support through the pantry model.
We were also pleased to successfully renew our Cyber Essentials accreditation, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our digital infrastructure and to maintain our Disability Confident accreditation through the Department for Work and Pensions, reaffirming our commitment to equality, inclusion and accessible employment practices.
Overall, this has been another successful year. Despite ongoing challenges and increasing demand for support, we have continued to adapt, innovate and grow. The impact of our work over the past 12 months has remained strong, and we remain committed to our vision of improving the lives of children and their families so they can have the best opportunities in life. We look forward to building on these achievements and continuing this important work in the year ahead.
Our 2025-26 Impact Statement
To download a 2 page copy of our Impact Statement, please CLICK HERE
|
|
Please click on the above images to download a copy of each page
'Working together to give children and families the best opportunities in life'.
