A fair start for ALL young parents and their babies - our national vision

WILD CEO, Jo Davies, sharing our learning with colleagues in young parent services

WILD is well known in Cornwall for its work with young parents and their babies, but did you know WILD is also involved in national projects that: 

• show what life is like in a young parent family.

• create change so all young parents and their babies have a fairer start to life.  

Supporting our national work is our National Network, which brings together organisations and individuals who share our vision for a Fair Start for young parent families.  

For many years, we thought that services and support for young parent families were often unconnected. We also believed there were people across the UK who knew the truth about life as a young parent and wanted to change this...we were right! 

Over 30 years, we have met many wonderful people who believe in young parents and their babies, just like us, so we brought them together to create a bigger, bolder voice. 

We now have over 80 network members, from all four UK countries; from the tiniest rural projects to national think tanks. We are also learning from our international partners at Fundación Kaleidos, who lead a network of partners from nine Latin-American countries.

Our network includes practitioners, researchers, voluntary providers, local authorities, commissioners, and national alliances focused on mental health, parenting, maternity, and early years; and some of the leading voices in young parenthood. We are also privileged to have been joined by Alison Hadley OBE, author and academic who directs the Teenage Pregnancy Knowledge Exchange and led the UK Government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy for two decades. Alison is very supportive of our national ambitions and featured WILD as a case study in her recent book, the 2nd edition of Teenage Pregnancy and Young Parenthood: effective policy and practice.  

Our network meets regularly to explore how we can create a fair start for young parents and their babies. Together, we have created our manifesto for change and our route map to deliver it. Our long-term ambition is to lead a new Young Parent Framework for local government and integrated care systems, based on evidence, learning, and trauma-informed practice.   

We plan to get there by building greater power and influence in the young parent community so that society has a better understanding of young parent families’ experiences and treats them with compassion.  

Are you a professional working with or for young parent families? Join our mission to change hearts, minds, policy, and practice.  

We would like to thank the KPMG Foundation for supporting our national network, helping us to amplify the voice of young parents and their babies, and enabling us to create system change.