The Cradle to Career programme puts the people of North Birkenhead at the heart of education, services and local decision-making.
It aims to significantly improve literacy standards among children, give families easy access to the support they need, improve the quality of life for all and create new opportunities for local children and young people.
It works to improve communication between the community and the organisations that serve them.
Right to Succeed is managing the project in partnership with Wirral Council, who have committed a 17-person community support team to the area. Residents were interviewed and surveyed when designing the programme. We are working to involve local residents gradually so that over time the programme becomes community-led.
Cradle to Career is a long-term plan for the children and young people of North Birkenhead, and we know that real change takes time. Funding has already been generously pledged for the first three years, by Steve Morgan Foundation, Wirral Council, and SHINE Trust.
The programme team aims to work with funders, commissioners and policymakers to show impact and ensure that Cradle to Career will continue into the future.
North Birkenhead Cradle to Career is different because it is both research-informed and truly collaborative: it brings local organisations and residents together around a common goal.
Working together is a huge part of North Birkenhead Cradle to Career. Local schools are sharing data and coordinating the transition to secondary school for all children in the area. Nine different public services are now co-located in a new community hub. Community organisations are jointly planning community pride campaigns.
Our programme team supports everyone to listen to local priorities, design solutions collaboratively and then measure the impact of the work we do so we can find out what works.
We are listening to what residents’ priorities are, and making sure that these priorities are what everyone in the area is working towards. Over time, we want more residents to join our working groups and help lead the conversations between organisations and services.
Cradle to Career will help residents effect the changes they want to see in their area, by supporting skills training and funding community projects.
There are over 40 organisations involved. Some are quite heavily involved and lead the education or community components of the programme. Others sit on our working groups and provide important advice and support.
In Birkenhead as a whole, there are only 0.62 jobs for every person aged between 16 and 65 – the third lowest nationally. Around half of children in North Birkenhead live in low-income households, three times the national average. The programme follows a major consultation, which found that although residents are proud to live in North Birkenhead they feel a lack of opportunities and jobs are holding the community back.
A large part of the Cradle to Career funding pays for people’s time, including specialist community support roles.
We also have specific budgets for the Education, Services and Community working groups, which pull together local professionals and residents to identify priorities, research ‘what works’, and deliver solutions.
There is also a budget for supporting decision-making through data collection and analysis, and for monitoring the programme’s impact.
So far, around 750 residents have participated in our survey to identify priorities, and around 50 families have had contact with our community support team.
Over 3500 children will benefit from our work with schools and we’re going to be engaging with every resident in North Birkenhead (around 8000 people) over the next few months.
Top priorities from the residents’ survey included:
“Career” is part of the remit of the programme, and as such we are:
We want residents to see an improvement in the areas they have prioritised: safer and cleaner streets, improved pride in their local area, and more opportunities for young people through a better local offer for children and families.
Residents can get involved with any of our programmes to have their say, help design solutions and shape the work in North Birkenhead. We also have a Community Seed Fund that any local person can apply to.
In the first three years of the project, this is what success will look like:
