Starting today, families can visit Family Hubs at Barnsley Market – our new, convenient drop-in space providing parents and families with information about the support available to them.

Family Hubs at Barnsley Market will act as an information point, where families can drop in and chat to our friendly staff about the services available to help them at our larger Family Hubs locations and across the borough.

As part of our wider Family Hubs and Start for Life offer, the space is here to support families with children aged 0-19, or up to 25 with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). They will be able to use the space to learn more about activities in their areas, get support around childcare entitlements, attend smaller Family Hubs events and activities, access stop smoking services and more.

This new location is a great way for us to increase the presence of our Family Hubs across the borough, acting as an accessible and central location for families to come along and talk to the teams. With the higher levels of footfall in the town centre and markets, the space means more families will have the opportunity to connect with the support they need.

Cllr Trevor Cave, Cabinet Spokesperson for Children’s Services, said: “We’re thrilled to announce Family Hubs at Barnsley Market. The new location is a great way to engage with more families about the support available to them. It also links into the work we’ve been doing to bring more health and wellbeing services into our town centre, helping to make the services people need more accessible and supporting a vibrant, thriving town centre that’s leading the way in high street regeneration.”

As part of the offer, NHS Yorkshire Smokefree Barnsley’s services will also be part of Family Hubs at Barnsley Market, helping more people on their journeys to go smoke-free. This collaborative approach to supporting families to live healthy lives, joining up services in a convenient location, is just one of the ways we’re working to make smoking invisible in Barnsley.

Thanks to the government's grant for local stop smoking services, we're investing in different ways to make sure people can get the right support to quit for good, including this project.

Earlier this year, we launched our Smokefree Starts campaign, created in collaboration with NHS South Yorkshire and our neighbouring councils. Often, people think that smoking helps to manage levels of stress, anxiety and depression, but it doesn't.

This campaign aims to shine a light on the impact smoking can have on your mental health and encourage more people across South Yorkshire to quit smoking for their wellbeing. Stopping smoking offers a wide range of benefits for both your physical and mental health, including improving your mood, feeling more positive and lowering levels of stress and irritability.

We're working closely with health colleagues across South Yorkshire to continue developing this campaign, recently turning our attention to how reaching out for support can help you break the cycle. You can learn more about the campaign on the Smokefree Starts website.

To learn more about how we're making smoking invisible in Barnsley, including our latest initiatives and smoke-free spaces, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Councillor Wendy Cain, Cabinet Spokesperson for Public Health and Communities, said: “In Barnsley, we want to make sure our communities can get the right support to live happier, healthier lives. Thanks to the hard work of our Tobacco Control Alliance, we’ve made some great strides to make smoking invisible in Barnsley and offer the right support to help more people go smoke-free, with 85% of people in Barnsley not smoking.

“It’s great to see NHS Yorkshire Smokefree Barnsley playing a vital role in our Family Hubs at Barnsley Market, helping more families get the right support for them and inspiring a smokefree generation. If you’ve been thinking about quitting smoking, please get in touch with NHS Yorkshire Smokefree Barnsley and find out how their friendly team can help you.”

Getting the right support can really help if you're thinking about quitting smoking, and NHS Yorkshire Smokefree Barnsley is here to help you.

They offer a wide range of free, confidential support that has a proven track record of helping people to stick with their quit attempts. Find out how they can help you by visiting their website.

You can keep up to date with our Family Hubs on their Facebook page.