Sure Start
Parents & carers
Support for you and your child, from the very beginning.
Sure Start brings together early learning, health and family support for expectant parents and families with children under four. Explore the support available and find a local project to speak to about your family’s needs.
Key facts
- Who it’s for
- Expectant parents and families with children under four
- Our role
- A key role in 7 Sure Start partnerships
- Our staff
- Over 160 Early Years staff
Funded by
Support for families
How Sure Start can help
Sure Start works alongside parents and carers to support children’s learning, health and development. Services are shaped around local families, so the activities available vary between projects.
Early Years plays a key role in 7 Sure Start partnerships, employing over 160 staff. Each programme offers a broad range of services focusing on family health, early years care and education and improved wellbeing programmes for children aged 0-4. Sure Start projects are fully funded by the Department of Education (DE), through the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), for operational delivery of the programme.
Support includes the following areas.
Play and early learning
Opportunities for children to play, explore and learn, at home and in groups.
Support for parents and carers
Practical parenting information, family support and opportunities to connect with others.
Home visits and outreach
Support that reaches families at home and helps them access other local services.
Health and wellbeing
Advice and support from community health professionals.
Speech, language and communication
Support to help children develop their communication and language skills.
Support for different needs
Inclusive activities and help finding additional services when your child or family needs them.
Who Sure Start is designed to support
Could Sure Start support your family?
Sure Start supports families from pregnancy until their child’s fourth birthday. It is a targeted programme, with services primarily available within designated local areas.
Living outside a project’s usual area does not necessarily mean there is no support available. Targeted outreach support may be available through a referral from a health or social care professional. Contact a local project to discuss the arrangements.
Getting started
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Step 1: Find a project
Use the directory below to find a local team.
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Step 2: Speak to the team
Ask whether your family can access the service and what support is available.
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Step 3: Ask about registration
The project can explain its registration process and the next steps for the activities you are interested in.
Find a project
Early Years’ Sure Start partnerships
Explore the projects below and contact their teams directly for information about services, registration and activities.
The locations shown are project bases, not eligibility boundaries. Each project can explain the areas it covers and any outreach arrangements.
Project website buttons take you to a separate website.
Blossom Sure Start
Based in Portadown.
Clogher Valley Sure Start
Based in Augher.
Dungannon and Coalisland Sure Start
Based in Dungannon.
Mourne Sure Start
Based in Kilkeel.
Newry Sure Start
Based in Newry.
Rainbow Sure Start
Based in Castlederg.
South Armagh Sure Start
Splash Sure Start
Based in Craigavon.
Star Sure Start
Based in Banbridge.
Looking for a project elsewhere?
This directory covers the partnerships listed by Early Years. To explore other Sure Start projects across Northern Ireland, visit Family Support NI.
Our role
How Early Years supports Sure Start
Early Years works with Sure Start partnerships across Northern Ireland and acts as lead body for a number of projects. We also participate in local partnership governance.
Our role differs between partnerships. For questions about your child, registration or local activities, contact the relevant project team directly. For enquiries about Early Years’ involvement in Sure Start, contact Early Years.
Programme information
Sure Start is funded by the Department of Education. Further information about the programme’s aims, outcomes and published evaluations is available on the Department’s website.
Contact
Let’s help you find the right team
Questions about support for your family? For information about activities, registration or local availability, contact a Sure Start project directly. Find a project and contact its team.
Questions about Early Years’ work with Sure Start? Contact Early Years for organisational or partnership enquiries. Contact Early Years.
- Telephone
- 028 9066 2825
- info@early-years.org