IT is 'all systems go' for the first of 22 projects as part of a ten-year £49 million programme to give babies and young children in some of the city's most deprived areas the best start in life.

Lottery-funded Better Start Bradford will work with families in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor, and Little Horton, focusing on about 15,000 children, from before birth to three years old.

Within the three wards – where about 1,430 babies are born each year – there are high rates of infant mortality and child poverty, low school readiness, and high rates of domestic violence and child protection orders.

The project is headed up by Bradford Trident, alongside partner organisations such as Bradford Council, the NHS, and West Yorkshire Police.

Speakers at a networking event held yesterday at the Thornbury Centre, Bradford Moor, outlined how the first few projects as part of the programme were ready to begin shortly.

Jo Howes, child health specialist at Better Start Bradford, explained that the first four schemes were: the Family Action perinatal support programme offering a befriender to mums who are depressed and socially isolated; expanding the family nurse partnership programme - a home visiting programme working with teenage mums; caseload midwifery, offering 250 mums the chance to build a relationship with the same midwife before and after they give birth; and a Talking Together programme ensuring every two year old has a review by an early language worker to identify any delay in speech.

She said: "Two years ago the Lottery Fund said we need to improve the outcomes for children in social and emotional development, nutrition, and communication and language. There aren't just a couple of things that will do that, and that's why we end up with a menu of projects.

"We have chosen all 22 because they have a really good evidence base already, a science base, or are innovative. All of the projects know they will be continually evaluated and where something is not working we can put something else in place instead.

"We will also be constantly horizon scanning to make sure that if there is something else out there that looks like it will work better, we can change to it."

The aim is that all these projects will mean the children involved start school ready for the classroom and it will boost their chances of doing well throughout their lives.

Staff at the Better Start Bradford Innovation Hub will monitor the various projects and the outcomes, and will work alongside the Born in Bradford study, which has been following 13,500 babies since 2007.

A second networking event is being held today at the Mayfield Centre in West Bowling, between 1pm and 3.30pm.