How can social infrastructure and public services form an integrated system? Our work with Harrow Council’s Public Health and Best Start in Life teams
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life – from pregnancy to the age of two – are a critical window for development, health, learning, and wellbeing. The two-year developmental check is a key milestone within the early years offer, providing an opportunity to identify children’s strengths, spot emerging developmental needs, and connect families with the right support at the right time. When paired with strong community support and accessible services, these checks become part of a wider system that gives every child the best possible start in life.
Neighbourly Lab has been working closely with Harrow Council’s Public Health and Best Start in Life teams to explore this system. Supporting its ‘Best Start’ Family Hubs offer, we have conducted ethnographic and in-depth qualitative research with parents and professionals, and carried out a review of its two-year developmental pathway.
One of the strongest messages we have heard from both parents and practitioners was the vital role that Harrow’s social infrastructure, such as Family Hubs and other community spaces, plays in supporting families during the early years. Becoming a new parent can be an incredibly rewarding experience, but it can also be isolating and hard to know where to get support. Accessible, welcoming community spaces that help to build connections, reduce loneliness, and create trusted networks of support that benefit both parents and children.
We have seen how Family Hubs are much more than places to access services. They provide opportunities for parents to meet others in similar situations, build confidence, and share experiences, while children benefit from activities such as Talk and Play sessions that support language development, communication, and social interaction. These opportunities to connect in the community are a crucial part of helping children thrive and ensuring parents feel supported during one of the most important stages of family life.
Our findings remind us that we need to look at the early years as an integrated system rather than a collection of individual services and milestones. They also underscore how, yet again, social connections drive effective service delivery. High-quality developmental checks are most effective when they are embedded within a wider system of trusted relationships, accessible community spaces, and coordinated services working together around families.
For more information, please contact marnie@neighbourlylab.com