A new resource, Moving Towards Tapestries of Care and Connection: Insights from the second annual report of the A Better Start evaluation is now available.
The briefing presents key messages for practitioners supporting early childhood development from the latest reports from the national evaluation of A Better Start.
What is A Better Start?
A Better Start (ABS) is the ten-year (2015-2025), £215 million programme set-up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK. Five ABS partnerships based in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham, and Southend are supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life.
Working with local parents, the ABS partnerships are developing and testing ways to improve their children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language, and communication. The work of the programme is grounded in scientific evidence and research. ABS is place-based and enabling systems change. It aims to improve the way that organisations work together and with families to shift attitudes and spending towards preventing problems that can start in early life.
The national evaluation of ABS is running until Spring 2026. It is being led by the National Centre for Social Research with their partners: University of Sussex, Research in Practice, National Children’s Bureau, and RSM. Findings from the evaluation are shared as they emerge to provide evidence to support ABS grant holders to improve delivery outcomes throughout the lifetime of the programme and to enable The National Lottery Community Fund to confidently present evidence to inform policy and practice initiatives in early childhood develop.
Illustration by Cassandra Harrison
About this briefing for practitioners
This briefing draws together key messages for practitioners from the ABS national evaluation second Annual Report (2024) and second themed report - parental engagement. The briefing presents emerging finding and interim findings from across the key evaluation questions. It draws evidence from interviews with both families and practitioners. In sharing these findings, we hope to support Early Years practitioners to learn from what is working well in ABS, reflect on their own practice for learning and improvement.
This briefing explores new themes like tapestries of care and connection, empowering parents and carers while building on last year’s discussions on building relationships with families and communities, responding to local contexts, and ensuring service accessibility.
Evidence in the briefing is organised under five interconnected themes:
- tapestries of care and connection,
- utilising new approaches,
- empowering parents and carers through holistic support,
- tailoring services and activities,
- facilitating social networks and community.
Illustration by Cassandra Harrison
Readers will learn more about the approaches and strategies that have been working well for ABS so far. Reflective questions are included throughout to prompt reflection on how insights can be applied to practice. The evidence presented in this briefing is relevant to both ABS providers and non-ABS providers of early years provision.
What’s next for A Better Start?
The national evaluation of ABS is ongoing and runs alongside the ABS programme until 2025. Analysis will then continue after the ABS programme comes to an end and the final report will be published in 2026. The next annual report is due to be published in spring 2025 and will be accompanied by another briefing for practitioners.
Moving Towards Tapestries of Care and Connection - Insights from the second annual report of the A Better Start evaluation: Strategic Briefing (2025)
A Better Start is a ten year (2015 – 2025) £215 million programme set up by The National Lottery Community Fund (The Fund). This briefing summarises key messages for multi-professional audiences across the Early years sector.