The Parenting Network Celebrates Opening of New Community Hub in Portsmouth

A PORTSMOUTH charitable organisation has finally opened the doors to its brand new community hub. 

The Parenting Network (TPN), a community interest company offering dedicated support to families, is thrilled to announce the opening of its new premises at The Bridge Shopping Centre in Fratton. 

This strategic relocation to a dual-unit facility marks an expansion designed to enhance service delivery and community outreach.

TPN is the umbrella company, under which sits several programmes that support people in different situations and areas of the community.

It was founded by Matt Foster who, after recognising a gap in support for fathers, started Dadzclub – a group for fellow dads to get together and share experiences and advice and provide support for one another.

After recognising a wider need for support for families across the board, Matt launched The Parenting Network, through which he and his ever-growing team run several groups, such as Young Mums’ Club, Families Stay and Play and Bump and Baby groups. 

TPN also runs Portsmouth Baby Bank, which is the arm of the organisation that provides families with essential items such as nappies, cots, toiletries, clothing and more.

For the Baby Bank, the move provides a dedicated space and improved drop-off point for donations. This will simplify the process and allow more items to be accepted, enabling an increase in distributed support – the need for which has risen by 142% in the last year.

The new office will host additional sessions for TPN programmes such as Baby Massage groups; Dadzclub and Dadzchat and Get Set Go, as well as new programme streams in response to the needs of local families. Joint events with organisations like the Breastfeeding Network, Health Visiting and Speech and Language teams will also be held there.

TPN plans for the site to further third sector networking opportunities, so that collaboration among local charities and non-profit foundations can continue to develop. 

Matt has seen his vision for community-based parental support evolve into the broader initiatives now encompassed by The Parenting Network.

Matt said: “Moving to these new premises not only enables us to expand our Baby Bank operations, but also host even more community programmes, including our new Embrace initiative for young people who have experienced childhood trauma.

“We’ve adapted in response to community needs, leading to this exciting new chapter. We hope to create a thriving hub of collective activity and support, where local families and organisations can come together to grow and thrive. 

“Our new home allows us to extend community support more effectively and to accommodate the growing needs of the families we serve. We’ve already had so many people knocking on the door before we’ve even officially opened for business, which already shows us how many more people we’ll be able to reach and have an impact on. We can’t wait to get to work on the additional projects us and our partners are now enabled to facilitate.”