Newham Best Start Family Hubs Befriending, Navigation and Peer Support Service

The London Borough of Newham is looking to commission a new Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS)-led befriending and navigation service, to complement our existing Best Start Family Hubs offer. This service should be flexible and accessible, supporting Newham families from pregnancy to age five. We are particularly interested in commissioning a model with multi-channel access, for instance with a telephone helpline and additional options such as text, WhatsApp, web-based or other virtual channels. The intention is that the service would combine informal emotional support, 'a listening ear', with practical advice, including signposting and referrals. The overall aim is to reduce isolation, build parental confidence, engage seldom heard groups, and support families to navigate local services and systems. This service will utilise a peer support approach that reflects Newham’s diverse communities, recruiting and training local volunteers to deliver elements of the offer. We would expect the service to connect closely into the Best Start Family Hubs network, enabling warm handovers and ongoing light-touch support until families are successfully linked into wider provision. Alongside the core phone offer, we are also interested in how providers might use outreach, community engagement and digital channels to extend reach, particularly to underrepresented groups who may not access traditional services.

Category: services

• Procurement method: Below threshold - open competition
• Briefing session: Not captured. Check the original notice before relying on this.
• Eligibility and evaluation: set out in the tender documents. Check mandatory returnables, registrations and scoring before you commit.

• Notice documentOpen (opens the source site)

Published

27 Oct 2026

First seen by Atlas

28 Oct 2026

Briefing session

Not captured. Check the original notice before relying on this.

Submission deadline

27 Nov 2026, 14:00 SAST

Estimated value

Not stated in the notice

Contract type

Below threshold - open competition

Category

services

Source

UK Find a Tender

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