Healthy Start Training

A Healthy Start training offer that targets professionals and volunteers working with pregnant women and families with at least one child aged under 4 years, with a monthly income of £408 or less from employment or in receipt of universal credit. The service will design, promote, deliver and evaluate a virtual training offer for health, education and voluntary community sector workforce to attend.

The training offer will include an overview of the Healthy Start scheme and information on the eligibility criteria and application process. In addition, signposting to local services where up to date information on health and nutrition in pregnancy and early childhood can be provided will be shared.

The aim is to increase awareness and knowledge of the scheme, to improve overall uptake of eligible families. The expectation is for 12 training workshops to be delivered in year 1 which are anticipated to last no longer than 2 hours and reach professionals working in Maternity, Services, Health Visiting teams, Early Years Settings and voluntary organisations who work with the target population group.

The national NHS Healthy Start schemes provides support to help buy vitamins, healthy food and milk for women over 10 weeks pregnant and families with a child under 4 with low incomes. It is recognised that this population may struggle with buying healthy food and formula milk due to rising costs.

A well-balanced diet is essential for healthy growth and development and to minimise the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and developmental delay later in life. Improving nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood is a key opportunity to have a lasting impact on physical and cognitive development Providing support to improve health outcomes for families on low incomes and affected by food insecurity will reduce health inequalities across Hampshire.

Children from the most deprived areas are nearly twice as likely to be obese by the time they start school compared to those from the least deprived. The aim of the service is to provide an effective, evidence-based and sustainable healthy start training offer with a focus on providing information about the scheme, the eligibility criteria, application process and how the payments can be used.

In addition, signposting to local services where up to date information on health and nutrition in pregnancy and early childhood can be provided will be shared. This service will aim to enable professionals to educate and support low-income families to access the healthy start scheme, improving access and availability to healthy nutritious food and milk products.

This will reduce the risk of childhood obesity to benefit current and future health. Contract Timeframe - 08/12/2025 - 31/03/2027 Contract Value - £60,000