New £3.3m fund to support babies from BAME and disadvantaged backgrounds

Applications are now open for a share of the £3.3m health and wellbeing fund to support community projects in England aimed at tackling obesity, reducing smoking and improving learning among mothers and young babies aged up to two-and-a-half. 

The fund aims to tackle key public health issues like obesity that disproportionately affects people and children from an economically deprived area. 

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It will pay for 3-year projects run by voluntary and community social enterprises (VCSE’s) in a bid to help level-up deprived communities.

The fund is open to applications from charity run projects aimed at:

• Improving perinatal mental health

• Reducing the percentage of babies born with low birthweight

• Increasing babies being breastfed

• Obesity prevention and support

• Reducing smoking or smoke-free homes

• Improving learning, speech and language development

• Improving immunisation rates and reducing rates of preventable disease

Jo Churchill, public health minister, said: “Everyone deserves to live a long healthy life, and we’re determined to reduce the inequality that some families face.

“We’re committed to start this work from birth, and the voluntary sector has an enormous role to play in its success. This year we have launched the Health and Wellbeing Fund which is centred around Starting Well, to make sure mothers have the help they need to make the right decisions to support their health, and the health of their babies.”