UPDATED 4th July 2025.

We’re delighted to share that HENRY has been awarded a new three-year contract to deliver a comprehensive Healthy Start service in City and Hackney. This exciting new service will enable us to support thousands of families with babies and young children, helping to give every child the healthiest and happiest start in life.

Building on Local Success

HENRY has been active in City and Hackney for many years, delivering the Healthy Families: Right from the Start programme. Local data shows encouraging progress: the rate of obesity among five-year-olds in Hackney has fallen from 15.9% to 12.7% over the past decade, and our work has likely played an important role in that shift.

This new contract allows us to expand that support even further.

What the New Service Includes

This new Healthy Start service offers a range of practical, evidence-based support for families, early years settings and professionals across City and Hackney:

For families:

• 8-week Healthy Families group programmes available across all children’s centre clusters
• Standalone workshops on key topics, including:
  • Starting Solids
  • Eating Well for Less
  • Let’s Get Active (encouraging movement and play)
• Support with the national Healthy Start scheme:
  • Access to free vitamins and healthy food vouchers via local children’s centres
  • Encouraging both first-time and repeat take-up
  • Open to all local families, not just those on low incomes

For early years settings and professionals:

• Help for early years providers to meet government food standards (through the Eat Better, Start Better framework)
• Training for health and early years practitioners to:
  • Identify children at risk of obesity
  • Have effective, sensitive conversations with parents and carers
  • Encourage families to engage with further support

A Long-Term Commitment

The new service officially launched in April 2018, and builds on HENRY’s trusted reputation in the local community. By combining practical tools, supportive relationships, and whole-family approaches, we aim to continue reducing health inequalities and help more children in City and Hackney thrive.

We’re proud to be working with families across City and Hackney to build healthier, happier futures, from the very beginning.

Want to get involved or find out more?

If you’d like to learn more about our programmes and services, explore partnership opportunities, or support our work to give more children a healthier start in life, we’d love to hear from you.

Visit our contact page to get in touch with the team.