King’s Group Academies Gosport Community Hub launches as a Best Start Family Hub Network Site
King’s Group Academies Gosport Community Hub welcomed families, schools, charities and local organisations as it officially launched as a Best Start Family Hub Network Site.
The evening brought together organisations supporting children and families across Gosport, with longstanding partners alongside people visiting the Hub for the first time.
For the Hub team, it was also an opportunity to reflect on just how far the community space has come.
The Hub was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal in November 2022, following significant support and funding from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC).
From the outset, it was developed as a community offer for children, families and the wider Gosport community, providing a welcoming space for programmes, activities, practical support and partnership working.
Alongside that wider community offer, the Hub has built a significant strand of work supporting Service children and families, reflecting Gosport’s strong Armed Forces community, alongside its many other community programmes and partnerships.
Becoming a Best Start Family Hub Network Site now adds to that established offer, bringing further opportunities to strengthen early years and family support and to make it easier for families to connect with services and opportunities locally.
The importance of those connections could be seen throughout the launch evening, as schools, community organisations, local services and Armed Forces charities shared the same space, talked about their work and made new links.
Lesley Ure, King’s Group Academies Community & Service Lead, said: “That really summed the evening up for me. I have always believed strongly in working collaboratively and in building trusted relationships. No one organisation can do everything, and nor should it have to. When people know each other, understand what is available and work together, we can make such a difference for families.”
The Best Start Family Hub Network Site role will sit alongside the work already taking place through the Hub.
For the team, that ability to bring different organisations together around a shared ambition for local children and families is one of the most exciting parts of the new offer.
Lesley added: “A huge amount of work has gone into building the Hub and I am incredibly proud of our team and of the relationships that have grown around it. We are proud of what is already here, and really excited about what we can continue to build together for children and families across Gosport.”