Letting the Future In

A celebration of innovative community projects for Children and Young people
A local family project has been included as a case study in a new publication celebrating innovative community and voluntary projects funded by the Department for Education and Skill’s Local Network Fund for Children and Young People has recently been launched.

‘Letting the Future In’, published by Community Links, is available free of charge and features innovative projects supported by the LNF which are contributing to the five outcomes of Every Child Matters - the government policy framework for children and young people.

The East Cambs Family Project
The group received a grant of £7,000 to fund a series of parenting workshops in rural areas where support to parents was in short supply. The workshops contained information on child development, importance of play, healthy eating and challenging behaviour. The advantage of running the courses in the rural villages meant more families were able to access information, support and advice and benefit from meeting in their own community to share their knowledge and experiences.

The project is one of 74 case studies from across the country that are included in the book.
Parmjit Dhanda, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, said:“Local communities have an important role to play in improving the lives of children and young people. The document “Letting the Future In” will be a valuable resource to those individuals or organisations wanting to do more to help children and young people to grow and learn. The case studies detailed in its pages will be an inspiration, demonstrating how voluntary or community groups can make a real difference.”

A free of charge copy ‘Letting the Future In’ can be obtained by telephoning 0845 602 2260 and quoting stock ref LNF/LTFI. The full text of ‘Letting the Future In’ is also available to download in from the Community Links website www.community-links.org as well as the Every Child Matters website www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/localnetworkfund