The Growing Change Project has been co-designed and co-developed with Nurture Families parents, children, practitioners and educators. They set about co-creating a vision for a community that put children first and created better outcomes for children and families in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Phase 1: The project began with an extensive local needs analysis that focused on outcomes for children in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Phase 2: The next phase involved intensive interviews with parents at Nurture Outdoor Kindergarten, and workshops with local families. We also undertook desk research that enabled us to better understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on families, with a focus on women and children.

Phase 3: The next phase of the Growing Change Project saw focus groups made up of women with ‘lived experience’ (including solo parenting mothers, parents from low-income households, and those who have experienced domestic violence and abuse). Families worked together with Nurture Families to co-design a vision for the project.

The Growing Change Project sits under the Nurture Families umbrella of social enterprises.  

The Growing Change Project is for families and children in Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The project includes three key programmes operated by our hub of social enterprises:

1. Pregnancy support – Nurture Families
2. Parenting support – Nurture Families & Nurture Outdoor Kindergarten
3. Employability support – Growing Change

We work with all families, but in particular we work with women and babies under 2 years old who find themselves in situations which can increase their vulnerability or place them at risk of harm.

Our hub of social enterprises serves families across Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The Growing Change Project itself is based in West Worcestershire.

Our roots lie in farming, with our first venture, Nurture Outdoor Kindergarten, set up with support from David and Diana Harper at Top Barn Farm, Holt Heath. We have served families in this rural location for more than 10 years. We are well established here and understand local family needs.

For us, farms are symbolic of what women and children need to experience – a sense of home and togetherness, shared values, and hard work. Family farms have been essential to our rural communities, and we are looking to have the opportunity to preserve a beloved farm in this area.

We welcome the opportunity to repurpose land and to breathe new life and legacy into a site. We envisage it being a place that will continue to serve this community for generations to come.

The Growing Change Project has a vision for:

1. A ‘farm to family’ restaurant, event space and food garden. These ventures will include participation with Growing Change, our social enterprise providing job training and life skills education for women experiencing hardship. A key aim is for the ventures to generate revenue for Nurture Families, enabling us to become self sufficient and less reliant on grant funding.
2. Early Childhood education centre operated by Nurture Outdoor Kindergarten.
3. Family therapy centre operated by Nurture Families and partners.

This is an ambitious project with a number of phases. We are currently in phase II -securing a new site.

We will be uploading a timeline detailing the phases of the project after we have secured a new site.