An ambitious 20-year plan hoped to transform the fortunes of a Merseyside area among the UK's poorest has been launched.
The Cradle to Career scheme is aimed at helping people in North Birkenhead by boosting literacy skills, creating opportunities and supporting families for two decades - and has been described as one of the most ambitious public-private partnerships ever launched in the UK.
It's been backed by over £2m from Steve Morgan, the Liverpool-born founder of housebuilder Redrow, and who last week was named once again among the country's richest people.
The programme follows a major consultation which found that although residents say they are proud to live in North Birkenhead, they feel a lack of opportunities and jobs are holding the community back.
In Birkenhead as a whole, there are only 0.62 jobs for every person aged between 16 and 65 - the third lowest of 162 areas nationally.
Charity Right to Succeed is managing the Cradle to Career programme, working closely with community leaders, police, churches, charities and schools.
Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “Investing in our children and young people is just as vital to the future of the Northern Powerhouse as large-scale infrastructure projects.
"Our research found that even prior to the pandemic, long term disadvantage was a growing problem in many schools across the North and that challenge has worsened following a year of disrupted learning.
"Cradle to Career is a people-centred model of community regeneration, delivering 'levelling up' - not just talking about it. The government should consider scaling up the programme in order to help those living in more disadvantaged communities across the country at the next Comprehensive Spending Review."
Research found that male residents in the Bidston and St James ward have a ‘healthy life expectancy’ of around 52 years - 11 fewer than the national average of 63.
In a bid to better engage with families, Wirral Council has created a hub in a community centre in the heart of North Birkenhead, staffed by representatives of nine different services.
The 17-person team includes school readiness workers, an independent domestic violence advocate and an employment coach.
Charitable donations of almost £3m over three years have been pledged by the Steve Morgan Foundation, SHINE Trust and UBS Optimus.
Mr Morgan said: “The Steve Morgan Foundation recognised the importance of communities working together and the idea for Cradle to Career in North Birkenhead, and giving every child a chance, was born out of that.
“We brought together senior leaders and education charities to properly join forces for the first time. We’re as eager as anyone to see positive results and lasting change.”
North Birkenhead mum Karen Beazley said Cradle to Career had the potential to create the future she had "always dreamed of" for the community’s young people.
In 2019, Ms Beazley was one of several mums to tell MPs at a joint hearing between the Education and DWP Select Committee of the constant struggle to make ends meet.
She said: “The opportunities a child gets in life shouldn’t be determined by where they’re born but that’s been the case for too many people in North Birkenhead for too long.
“Cradle to Career offers genuine hope for the first time in generations. The talent is there but it needs a chance. This could give them that chance.”
One of the key aims will be raising literacy levels as children’s reading ages in North Birkenhead lag significantly below the national average.
Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley, added: “Communities like the North End of Birkenhead have been ignored by the government for too long. Here's a community that's getting on with it all by themselves - linking education, skills, health and policing and building the joined-up people strategy that is sorely lacking from the government's levelling-up agenda.”
