Parent-Infant Foundation secures more than £1 million Lottery funding to create new Framework 

The Parent-Infant Foundation is delighted to announce it has been awarded more than £1 million from the National Lottery Community Fund to create a new National Parent-Infant Relationship (PAIR) Framework.

Babies depend on sensitive, responsive relationships to grow and develop healthily.  But many do not get the nurturing care they need¹.  
  
Parent-infant teams and services support and strengthen relationships between babies and their parents or carers. They also join up the wider system to support parent-infant relationships.  

But parent-infant teams and services are not available everywhere and there is currently no national pathway or guidance.  
  
The National PAIR Framework will address these challenges by developing best practice guidance to support implementation of parent-infant relationship pathways and improve provision.  

The Framework will draw on best practice from parent-infant teams and services across the UK. It will bring together insights from people with lived and learned experience, research, evidence from practice and professional guidance.    

Led by the Parent-Infant Foundation with delivery partners Ideas Alliance (co-production) and Anna Freud (research), the National PAIR Framework is a four-year project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund for England.  

This new initiative has extensive support from key stakeholders across the system who work with and advocate for babies. We are grateful for the time stakeholders invested in shaping the project during its development. In particular to the Royal College of Midwives, the Institute of Health Visiting, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Local Government Association.   

The National PAIR Framework will focus on the antenatal period up to age two, and link with relevant pathways and guidance for young children and expectant parents.  

Keith Reed, Chief Executive at the Parent-Infant Foundation said: 

“We are thrilled to have secured this funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.   

“Every baby deserves a good start in life. Development of this National Parent-Infant Relationship Framework will really help us get closer to our vision of a UK in which all parents and carers are supported to create sensitive, nurturing relationships with their babies to lay the foundation for lifelong mental and physical health. 

“A lot of work has already been done in starting to bring this National Framework project to life and I’d like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund for believing in this cause. Thanks too to our team at the Foundation, our delivery partners and other key stakeholders for their work, insights and support so far. We are excited to get this ambitious 4-year project underway.” 

Lucie Stephens, Director at Ideas Alliance said: 

“At Ideas Alliance CIC, we know that the most effective and meaningful change happens when people with lived experience are at the heart of shaping services and systems. The Parent-Infant Foundation’s commitment to co-producing a national Parent-Infant Relationship Framework embodies this ethos. By working in genuine partnership with babies, parents and practitioners, this initiative promises to create a framework that is not only evidence-informed but also rooted in the real experiences of babies and their caregivers. We’re proud to collaborate with the Parent-Infant Foundation and Anna Freud in this important work.” 

Professor Eamon McCrory, CEO of Anna Freud, a mental health charity for children and young people, said: 

“The first 1001 days of a baby’s life, from conception to age two, are critical for lifelong development. We know that early, joined up support makes a real difference for families. However, while there are pockets of excellent services for parents and infants across the UK, access is unfortunately unequal, and many aren’t getting the support they need. 

“With this funding, we look forward to working with partners to help address this postcode lottery. Eventually, we hope all babies and parents will thrive with support from services drawing on best practice.”  

ENDS

Notes: 

• ¹ The government’s approach to assessing need uses ‘disorganised attachment’ as a proxy measure. Start for Life puts prevalence of disorganised attachment at 10% of the population. Academic research suggests the level of disorganised attachment at a population level could be as high as 15%. It should be noted that while this group represents the most vulnerable babies, professionals also recommend supporting babies at risk of developing other types of ‘insecure attachment’, as they too experience distress that can negatively impact their development  

• The Parent-Infant Foundation has been awarded £1,086,044 by the National Lottery Community Fund for the National PAIR Framework project.  

• About The National Lottery Community Fund 

We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.  

We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK. 

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.   

As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:  

1. Come together 

2. Be environmentally sustainable 

3. Help children and young people thrive 

4. Enable people to live healthier lives. 

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute over £600 million a year through 13,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4 billion of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.   

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £49 billion has been raised and more than 690,000 individual grants have been made across the UK – the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.  

• About Ideas Alliance 

Ideas Alliance CIC is a social consultancy focused on co-production and collaboration. We help communities, providers and commissioners work together so that local people shape the public services that affect their lives. We show organisations how they can shift their culture and ways of working to build bridges with communities. Then we help these partnerships turn stories into strategy to create better outcomes for everyone. 

• About Anna Freud 

Anna Freud is a mental health charity and we’ve been supporting children and young people for over 70 years. We listen to and learn from their diverse voices, and integrate this with learnings from our science and practice to develop and deliver mental health care. This holistic approach has world-changing potential – our training, schools support, networks, partnerships and resources equip those who impact children and young people’s lives with the knowledge and skills to support their mental health.