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Our Impact

Transforming Lives Through Play and Community Support

Our Vision

Hackney Playbus’s vision is that children in East London, particularly those most socially excluded, share the same opportunities to grow, thrive and reach their potential.

Our aims are:

  • To make play and learning opportunities accessible to children aged 0-4 years old
  • To connect families to support services
  • To improve parenting confidence
  • To reduce social isolation and facilitate community cohesion

Our Impact

Find out more about the impact of our work:

Hackney Playbus Annual Report 2023 24

Key Findings

100%
Parents and carers felt that their children have more opportunities to play and learn because of the Playbus
99%
Parents and carers say that Hackney Playbus encourages them to get out of the house more with their children.
92%
Parents and carers said that their children are more self-confident since coming to the Playbus.
92%
Parents and carers say they feel they have a better understanding of how to support their children’s needs since attending Playbus session
My child was very reserved and shy. Coming to these play sessions, she has become very confident around other children and adults.
– Playbus mum
Practitioner, Best Start with HENRY in the City & Hackney
As a Healthy Families Practitioner working within the early years, mainly in Childrens Centres we are always looking for other ways to meet our target families. Having the Hackney Playbus available across the borough has given us that opportunity to sit and chat to families about our services and to inform them about Healthy Start vitamins and vouchers in a relaxed and safe environment. Since visiting the Playbus in three of their locations, I have successfully signed up parents to some of our Healthy Families workshops that are delivered in nearby Childrens centres. Many of these parents have never used the children’s centre before.”
– Tina Le
92%
Playbus users have been able to access other services as a result of coming to the Playbus
82%
Parents and carers say they have started using more local activities and services.
84%
Parents and carers say they have shared their own knowledge of activities and services with other parents or carers at Hackney Playbus sessions.
96%
Parents and carers said they had learned new parenting skills as a result of attending Playbus sessions
86%
Parents and carers said that they feel they manage the pressures of parenting better than before

Feedback from our parents and community partners

My confidence in parenting is always bettered, I feel a sense of community and no isolation as a mother. Always greeted with a smile, I feel such warmth and familiar atmosphere at each session
– Playbus mum 2019
The staff are all brilliant, really encouraging and helpful. It feels more like a family than a formal group. It’ s very relaxed and welcoming, I can turn up at any time and not be turned away. I feel I can ask anything and not feel silly.
– Playbus mum 2019
Specialist HIA Health Visitor for Transition to Parenthood – Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
I feel that the partnership that health visiting and the Playbus have been able to achieve has been really beneficial to the health visiting service and to the families with whom we have come into contact. It has enabled me to help families who are more socially isolated, as I can take them or agree to meet them there and then introduce them to the wonderful Playbus team who are so welcoming. Out of the 3 families that I have taken or agreed to meet there, all 3 are now regular attendees of the Playbus and think it is an invaluable resource.
– Christopher Norton
Breastfeeding Coordinator, Children’s Service, Diagnostics and Outpatients Division, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
I would like to thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to visit your services and meet with families. We really enjoyed talking to lots of parents on that week. I strongly appreciate it. Since I visited your services, I have been talking to all my colleagues and encouraging them to engage and access families via Playbus.
– Dina Kakar