Taking time for ‘Moments that Matter’ in Bradford

Dr Hannah Swan, Clinical Lead at Little Minds Matter, and Gill Thornton, Head of Programme at Better Start Bradford, introduce a campaign promoting the vital everyday interactions between parent and child.

From bump to age two, a baby’s brain is making millions of connections every second. It is such an important period in brain formation, and the little moments – like singing a nursery rhyme, baby massage or playing a game – all help to switch the baby’s brain on and help them grow and develop.

And babies are born ready to relate too.

The very first relationships your baby has are possibly the most important bonds they will ever make. These interactions shape what they learn about who they are, about their feelings, and about others, and teach babies how to communicate, how to think and how to express themselves.

We wanted to showcase the little moments that parents share with their babies every day and show them the amazing benefits these can give in developing their baby’s brains.

Ultimately, we aimed to help parents to realise the importance of the role they play and to become fiercely curious about their babies.

That’s why we developed the Moments that Matter Bradford campaign. Little Minds Matter wanted to help parents recognise how babies are ready to relate and communicate from the moment they are born.

The campaign shows the small things we can all do to help little ones’ brain development, through a series of videos using real families from across Bradford. As we are based in Bradford, we wanted to work with local families and we’d like to thank each and every one of them for taking part and making these amazing videos.

All the videos and resources can be found here www.momentsthatmatterbradford.org

Our Moments that Matter Bradford videos show real life parenting with the simple, fun moments that don’t take long and don’t cost anything, but the impact will last a lifetime.

Mum of two, Ludmila Novosjolova, who took part in the videos with her youngest daughter, said:

“I feel privileged to be taking part in such a great campaign and really enjoyed making the videos. If I hear music that makes my heart dance, I will grab my daughter and we will enjoy dancing together. Those moments don’t cost anything, but they bring so much joy, bonding and health benefits. Your children will remember those exciting little moments. You don’t have to wait for the right moment or a special time. Make it fun and special – right here, right now!”

Little Minds Matter - Bradford’s Infant Mental Health Service is a Better Start Bradford project that is being jointly delivered by Bradford District Care Foundation Trust and Family Action.

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.

Sign-up to join our mailing list.