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Smallshaw-Hurst
What We Do
Meet Harry
Harry’s six and lives in Smallshaw-Hurst. He loves drawing trucks and wants to be an engineer one day. But he finds it hard to concentrate at school and things are tough at home. His mum works really hard, but he and his sisters don’t always have enough money for food, or fun stuff in the holidays like going to the seaside. It seems unfair that his mates down the road have it easier and seem to have everything they need at school and at home to succeed.
Harry - and every child and family - deserve opportunities to reach their full potential no matter where they live.
Smallshaw-Hurst is made up of three distinct disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Tameside, Greater Manchester. Here, 31% of children and young people live in Income Deprived Homes (14% above national average). Female life expectancy is 2 years below the national average, and males are 4 years below. Limited local facilities, job opportunities, and the cost-of-living crisis are causing significant struggles for families and children like Harry and his siblings.
For the past 6 years, the SSH Children's Community (SSHCC) have actively tackled these inequalities hand in hand with children, families, schools, charities, healthcare, and services, both locally and nationally.
Led by the community's voice, SSHCC proactively connects people, organisations and learning to influence and inform lasting change - so that children and young people in Smallshaw-Hurst have the same chances as those that live in more advantaged areas. Working with the entire community we aim to transform structures, policies, relationships, and attitudes that enable equitable opportunities for our children.
This looks like network building, fundraising, or research and data collection for monitoring and evaluation of new and existing initiatives or issues. It also looks like knowledge sharing, pooling resources for more efficient services for families, and direct community activity like holiday clubs and food banks. For Harry, this means his family could use the food pantry so he and his sisters can eat; free activities during the holidays so his mum can still go to work; and his school connecting with university researchers to learn more about how to help him through research and data.
The Children’s Community is the catalyst that joins everyone together so children like Harry can be the best possible version of themselves and thrive later in life. Through our work we strive to make every place in this country a truly great place to grow up – a community with an effective, joined-up approach to enabling full and happy childhoods.
