Category

• Fully Validated and Adopted Local Practice

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Poverty impact

• Mitigation
• Awareness

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Poverty driver

• Provide benefit in-kind (material)
• Provide benefit in-kind (experience)

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Keywords

• Mitigating Poverty
• Accessible
• Low-cost
• Development
• Digital and Technology

Aim

The project's primary aim is to facilitate early year development of all children across the British Isles by providing low-cost activities that improve their physical and mental health, language development and learning outcomes.

Summary

‘50 Things to Do Before You're Five’ is a free mobile app and website that provides 50 local low-cost and easily accessible activities to support the early year development of children across the UK. Available in 25 local areas, it supports parents and caretakers in developing their home learning environment. As a place-based, parent-facing offer for Local Authorities and other public sector organisations, it seeks to mitigate the effects of poverty from an early age. The project is based on the simple notion that fun, low or no-cost experiences with family, indoors and outdoors, are great ways to support children’s development no matter their background.

What difference does it make?

‘50 Things to Do Before You're Five’ created an accessible service which is targeted at families that may be impacted by poverty. By making the offer available to different localities within the UK, more children and their families can use the free services and engage in local activities. According to their impact report (see details below), ‘50 Things to Do Before You're Five’ has increased the time for children to go outside and their opportunities to socialise within their local communities. Additionally, the ‘50 Things to Do Before You're Five’ supported parents to help their children’s development in different ways.

Key take-aways

• Easily accessible and low-cost activities for children under five can mitigate the impact of poverty, promote children’s development and reduce costs on the health and education systems.
• A locally developed initiative can spread across different localities when it builds on the knowledge and expertise of communities and is co-created with its users.
• Some local authorities like the idea but do not have the funds to implement it in their area. Governance structures are, at times, hindering implementation.

 

Organisations

Bradford Birth to 19.

Location

The project is delivered in 25 local areas across the British Isles and is planned to extend further. Current locations include England (Bradford, Calderdale, East Sussex, Kirklees, Leeds, Sheffield, Southwark, Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, Wakefield, Peterborough, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Oldham, Birmingham, Jersey, Bedford, West Berkshire, Suffolk, Coventry, London Borough of Hounslow and Portsmouth) and Scotland (Fife).

Contact