Key Points
- Official Transition: St Kilda Children’s Centre in Eastern Road, Romford, has officially transitioned into St Kilda Family Hub, bringing together local health, education, and social care support services under one roof.
- Target Demographic: The hub serves children and young people aged 0 to 17, who account for approximately 23% (63,777 individuals) of the London Borough of Havering’s total population.
- Specialist Inclusion: The enhanced facility caters to more than 3,000 local children and young people currently holding an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
- Free Integrated Support: Services offered free of charge include structured play sessions, baby-feeding guidance, maternal and infant mental health support, and specialized financial advice.
- Strategic Alignment: The opening supports the Department for Education’s national ‘Best Start in Life’ framework alongside Havering Council’s localized ‘Happy Healthy Lives Strategy’.
- Future Rollout: Councillor Kevin Gill confirmed St Kilda is the borough’s first dedicated family hub, with additional hubs planned to launch across Havering offering parenting classes and home-learning guidance.
Havering (East London Times) October 14, 2026 — Local authority leaders and community health partners have formally opened the new St Kilda Family Hub in Romford, marking a major expansion of early support and developmental services for families across the London Borough of Havering. The venue, previously operating as the St Kilda Children’s Centre on Eastern Road, has undergone a comprehensive operational overhaul designed to co-locate local education, public health, and family welfare resources within a single integrated community facility.
As detailed in official reporting by the London Borough of Havering press office and coverage by journalist Priya Shah of The Greater London Herald, the updated hub has been created to provide early intervention and continuous care from birth through adolescence. By offering multi-agency support under one roof, Havering Council aims to streamline service access for the borough’s estimated 63,777 children and young people aged 0 to 17, who currently constitute roughly 23 per cent of the local population.
The physical facility on Eastern Road has significantly scaled up its delivery capabilities in partnership with regional National Health Service (NHS) trusts, early years educators, and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) practitioner networks. Under the new operational model, all delivered programmes are free at the point of access for resident families. On-site provisions now include organized developmental play groups, professional baby-feeding advice, targeted maternal and infant mental health wellbeing sessions, and practical household money management services.
A critical focus of the facility is its dedicated support for vulnerable children and those requiring targeted educational assistance. Local demographic data integrated into the project outline confirms that over 3,000 children and young people residing within Havering currently hold formal Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The consolidated hub structure allows health visitors, educational psychologists, and SEND co-ordinators to conduct joint consultations, reducing referral waiting times and preventing complex cases from falling through traditional departmental gaps.
As reported by Francesca Lilleystone of The Havering Daily, the operational framework of the new hub directly reflects national policy guidance published under the Department for Education’s ‘Best Start in Life’ initiative. The government initiative emphasizes that the first 1,001 days of a child’s life—from conception through to age two—are foundational in shaping lifelong health, emotional resilience, cognitive development, and educational attainment. Furthermore, the venue aligns with Havering Council’s internal ‘Happy Healthy Lives Strategy’, which establishes localized targets for reducing child health inequalities and expanding early support infrastructure across East London.
Commenting on the official launch of the facility, Councillor Kevin Gill, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Havering Council, stated:
“St Kilda has a long history of supporting local families and this is an exciting new chapter. This family hub will build on that strong foundation and marks an important milestone in delivering Havering’s Best Start in Life Plan, which sets out our shared ambition to give every child the best possible start in life and to ensure families can access support when and where they need it.”
Addressing the strategic direction of the council’s wider children’s services, Councillor Kevin Gill added:
“By investing in early support and creating welcoming spaces such as this, we can identify needs earlier and provide joined-up services to let parents and carers know that support is available when they need it. This is our first family hub with more planned for the Borough which will provide parenting classes, support for home learning for families to improve children’s outcomes in early childhood.”
What Is the Background of the St Kilda Family Hub Development?
The transformation of the St Kilda Children’s Centre into a fully integrated family hub represents a major structural shift in how local authorities in England deliver early intervention services. Historically, local children’s centres focused primarily on early years provision for children under five years old. However, following national policy updates from the Department for Education, local councils have been encouraged to transition toward the broader ‘Family Hub’ model, expanding service boundaries to support children up to 19 years of age (or up to 25 for young people with special educational needs).
The London Borough of Havering has faced growing demographic pressures in recent years, with young people aged 0 to 17 now representing almost a quarter of its total population. Concurrently, the demand for specialized educational and health interventions has increased, highlighted by the more than 3,000 children in the borough who require formal Education, Health and Care Plans.
To address these expanding needs within tight municipal budgets, Havering Council formulated its ‘Happy Healthy Lives Strategy’. This framework prioritizes early preventative intervention over costly late-stage crisis management. By redeveloping existing municipal assets like the Eastern Road site in Romford, the council has established a centralized base where health visitors, early years educators, SEND specialists, and financial advisory workers can operate in tandem, fulfilling both local strategy goals and central government mandates.
How Will This Development Affect Local Families and Service Users in Havering?
The opening of the St Kilda Family Hub is expected to significantly alter how families in Havering access statutory and voluntary support services. For parents of newborns and young children, the co-location of health visiting and maternal wellbeing services eliminates the need to navigate disjointed administrative systems, providing direct, walk-in access to baby-feeding consultations and postnatal care within a single non-clinical environment.
For households managing financial strain, the inclusion of integrated money advice alongside early learning activities offers a discreet, low-barrier route to debt counselling and benefits guidance. Families caring for children with complex needs or SEND requirements stand to gain shorter diagnostic and support pathways, as multi-disciplinary teams working within the same building can share case assessments directly without prolonged inter-agency delays.
As Havering Council prepares to roll out additional family hubs across the borough, local residents can expect wider neighborhood access to standardized parenting classes and home-learning resources. Overall, the initiative aims to improve early childhood outcomes, reduce emergency interventions, and establish a consistent community support network for parents from pregnancy through to their children’s transition into adulthood.
