Engagement team & Parent Champions bring Southend mascot ‘Pip’ to life in new storybook

Michelle Gray from A Better Start Southend, describes how Parent Champions have brought the partnership’s Mascot, ‘Pip’, to life through a new storybook.

Co-production with A Better Start Southend’s (ABSS) Parent Champions has always been at the heart of the Engagement Team’s work and informs all ABSS projects.

Our mascot, Pip, was launched in 2018, and was the vision of one of our Parent Champions. Pip was then developed by ABSS families and their children through several interactive processes and workshops. Now, we are delighted to have supported Parent Champions to bring Pip to life with the creation of a new storybook!

'Pip and Me … Go to School' was developed following an idea by a previous ABSS Parent Champion, Kirsty Wilson, who wanted to create a short children's book featuring our mascot. It was Kirsty’s vision to have a story, told from a child’s point of view, with the reassuring voice of Pip supporting them through a new experience.

Bringing together two current Parent Champions, Kate Balding and Vicky Furby, to work alongside former Parent Champions, Kirsty Wilson and Julia Davis, we embarked on a six-month journey of story planning, rhyming verses, and image design. Julia was also part of the Pip mascot working group in 2018 and was the illustrator for this storybook.

We discussed many possible themes for the storybook. We decided to focus on starting school, as this is an important transition for every four-year-old. This theme allowed the story to explore topics such as separation from their main carer, new experiences, and the rollercoaster of emotions a child might feel on that first day. The result is a wonderful fun-filled adventure of a little one’s first day of school, with Pip offering support every step of the way.

Parent Champion, Nichola told us:

“After the summer holidays, my daughter who is soon turning three, will be starting nursery. In the lead up to her settling-in sessions we have been reading to her the book ‘Pip & Me Go to School.’ It has been helping her to feel less anxious & more prepared. Although the story book is based around ‘school’ the ability to adapt it to any education setting is easy.

“I have been super anxious about my first-born daughter starting nursery. This book is also helping me to feel less anxious, knowing that her anxiety is lessening. We read the book every couple of days. The book helps to create conversations and allows my daughter to ask questions about anything she’s worried about.

“I’m super grateful this book was created & the timing of the launch was perfect so that we could read it plenty over the summer holidays in order to prepare us all.”

A launch event was held at the end of June, attended by Parent Champions and their children, along with members of ABSS and SAVS, to celebrate our journey and share our story. The event was relaxed and enjoyable, parents sat and read to their children and took photos with Pip in person.

In total, 3500 books have been printed. 1135 have been distributed to all ABSS pre-school and nursery settings, and a further 856 to pre-school and nursery settings outside the ABSS wards. 700 books have been used at events and in general promotion over the summer.

Free copies can be requested by parents / carers / early years settings across Southend-on-Sea by contacting Michelle at mgray@savs-southend.co.uk

By: Michelle Gray, Engagement Team Project Lead at A Better Start Southend

About A Better Start

A Better Start is a ten-year (2015-2025), £215 million programme set-up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

Five A Better Start partnerships based in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham and Southend are supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life. Working with local parents, the A Better Start partnerships are developing and testing ways to improve their children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication.

The work of the programme is grounded in scientific evidence and research. A Better Start is place-based and enabling systems change. It aims to improve the way that organisations work together and with families to shift attitudes and spending towards preventing problems that can start in early life. It is one of five major programmes set up by The National Lottery Community Fund to test and learn from new approaches to designing services which aim to make people’s lives healthier and happier

The National Children’s Bureau is coordinating an ambitious programme of shared learning for A Better Start, disseminating the partnerships’ experiences in creating innovative services far and wide, so that others working in early childhood development or place-based systems change can benefit.

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Visit the A Better Start website to find out more.