Blackpool's Better Start down Under mission to help resort children

Clare Law, development manager for Blackpool Better Start, will visit Australian childhood trauma and mental health academics and innovators.

Clare, who was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship last year following her work in Blackpool at the Centre for Early Child Development, will travel to Sydney and Melbourne in a fact finding and learning mission.

She said: “The Winston Churchill Fellowship has presented me with a fantastic opportunity to take my passion for early years prevention and intervention and share learning with world-class experts across the globe.

“This knowledge will then be brought home to Blackpool so we can develop our programmes which will benefit families who have suffered from childhood trauma.”

The funding through the fellowship will enable Clare and Blackpool Better Start to focus on giving children, pre-birth to four years old, the strong and resilient foundation they need to reach their full potential.

She will build on her specialism of understanding and preventing the impact of traumatic experiences in children.

During her two-week stay, Clare will visit Monash University in Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Women’s Hospital, Blue Knot Foundation in Sydney and the Mental Health Network.

She will also meet with academics and world-leading experts in the field of trauma informed care.

Blackpool Better Start is a 10-year programme to improve the lives of pre-school children in the resort.