Discover the impact of Home-Start Essex, with a focus on Early Years, Dad Matters and working together to support families.

Home‑Start Essex invites you to an informative morning focused on the impact of Home‑Start Essex, with a particular emphasis on Early Years support and Dad Matters.

The sessions will explore how working together in partnership can strengthen pathways of support, enhance early help, and create longer‑lasting outcomes for children and families across Essex. You’ll also have the opportunity to hear about current priorities, share insight, and connect around collaborative approaches.

What to Expect

Insight into the role and impact of Home‑Start Essex

A focus on challenges facing babies and young children, Early Years support and engaging fathers

Discussion on early help and partnership working

Opportunities to connect and hear about local activity

Who Should Attend

This event is relevant for:

Commissioners and funders

Corporate partners and donors

Local councillors

Voluntary and community sector organisations

Professionals with an interest in early help and family support

Speakers

Nic O'Brien - CEO, Home-Start Essex

Nic O’Brien is the CEO of Home-Start Essex and has worked within Home-Start for 23 years, gaining valuable insight into the changing issues/circumstances that families face and has developed services to best meet the emerging needs of local communities in Essex. Nic has worked in partnership extensively with health services, local authorities, grant & trust providers and the VCFSE sector throughout her career. Nic will talk about the real issues that families face locally in Essex, how we can work together to enhance holistic support for families and the impact of Home-Start Essex services.

Sally Hogg - Director of Start Strong

Sally Hogg is a recognised expert on babies and young children, and Director of Start Strong, a national movement working to ensure every child has a good early childhood.

Sally will talk about why getting early childhood right is vital - for individuals, and for our future society. She will talk about the challenges facing babies and young children in the UK today, and why services provided by organisations like Home-Start Essex are so valuable.

Her career spans senior roles across charities, academia, and national and local government, where she has led the development and delivery of services and driven system and policy change. Sally advises a number of organisations, including the Department for Education, and has received several awards for her leadership and campaigning for babies and young children.

Kieran Anders - Dad Matters Lead, Home-Start UK

Kieran Anders is Project Manager for Dad Matters, a Home-Start project with an innovative model of universal and targeted engagement of dads across the Home-Start network in the UK.

Kieran explores the vital role fathers play during the perinatal period and early years, and why engaging dads is essential for improving outcomes for babies and families. Drawing on the national Dad Matters programme, Kieran Anders shares insights from frontline delivery, evaluation, and lived experience.

The talk highlights the impact of fathers on infant development, parent-infant relationships, maternal wellbeing, and family resilience, while addressing common barriers dads face in accessing support and the realities of paternal mental health.

Attendees will also learn how Dad Matters works in partnership with maternity, health visiting, and community services to deliver inclusive, effective support through outreach, peer networks, and targeted interventions.

Offering practical reflections for professionals, commissioners, and organisations seeking to embed meaningful father-inclusive practice within family support and early years services.

Description supplied by the event organiser.