Leeds is celebrating a major milestone as the birthplace of Baby Week UK, with the much-loved annual event for the city’s youngest residents returning this year for its 10th anniversary.
Taking place from 14-20 November at venues across the city, Baby Week will shine a spotlight on the wide range of support, services and activities available locally for babies, toddlers, new parents and families with children aged five and under. The initiative was launched in Leeds in 2016, inspired by Lucy Potter, a former Leeds City Council family support worker. After visiting Brazil on a fellowship, she set out to bring the success of their UNICEF-backed ‘Semana do Bebe’ project to Leeds – a vision that has since grown into Baby Week UK.
Since then, Baby Week has grown rapidly becoming a registered charity in 2018 and now being replicated in 20 other regions across the UK, including Nottingham, Newcastle and Cambridgeshire. This year’s theme, ‘Healthy Parent, Healthy Baby’, will see more than 175 activities taking place across Leeds during the week, ranging from taster sessions and health and wellbeing talks to parenting classes with all events either free or low cost.
Founder Lucy Potter, who still serves as a trustee of Baby Week UK said:
“It’s incredible to see the vision we brought to Leeds back in 2016 grow on a national scale and continue to bring services and sectors together to promote the best start in life. This week has become a real one-stop shop to celebrate babies and young children and show a full range of activities and help on offer across Leeds and the UK so parents and carers know where to look for crucial advice and support.”
Activities in Leeds will range from music classes and postnatal yoga to a nationwide online ‘Introduction to First Aid’ course, plus a special baby and toddler takeover day at the Thackray Museum of Medicine. Leeds children’s centres, family hubs, libraries and Active Leeds leisure centres will together host more than 75 sessions over the course of the week.
Leeds will also stage a free national conference on 20 November for professionals working in health, early years and best practice. During the event, Leeds City Council and its partners will launch a new 10-year strategy aimed at improving outcomes for children aged 0-5 in the city.
Titled ‘Best Start and Beyond’, the strategy is being jointly led by the council’s public health and education teams, working alongside partners from the NHS and the voluntary sector. It outlines key priorities and actions to improve health and education outcomes and tackle inequalities affecting children aged 0-5 between 2025 and 2035.
The strategy will be formally launched at the Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board meeting in the morning, before being presented to delegates at the national conference later that afternoon.
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children and families said:
“Together with our partners across the city, we’ve really blazed a trail in our work to raise awareness of the critical importance of a child’s first years of life and I’m so proud of the national institution that Baby Week has become. The week is a real highlight of our Child Friendly Leeds initiative, supporting our ambition for Leeds to be the best city for all our children and young people to grow up in.”
This year’s event is supported by the National Energy Foundation, the charity behind the Better Housing, Better Health project, which provides guidance and assistance to help families stay warm, safe and healthy.
Councillor Emma Flint, Leeds City Council’s executive member for equality, health and wellbeing said:
“Baby Week 2025 is once again shaping up to be action-packed, with a full programme of events showing the scale, and range, of support offered in this city to young children and families.
“To coincide the week’s special anniversary with our new 10-year Best Start and Beyond strategy further reinforces our commitment to doing all we can to make Leeds a happy and safe place and improve outcomes so all children and young people can reach their full potential.”
As Baby Week UK celebrates its 10th year, its growth from a Leeds-based initiative to a nationwide movement reflects the increasing recognition of the importance of early years support. Bringing services, families and professionals together, the week continues to champion better outcomes for babies and young children — ensuring that the ‘best start in life’ is more than just a slogan, but a shared commitment across communities www.babyweek.co.uk
Leeds is a great place to grow up and is proud to be a child-friendly city, with its many parks, playgrounds, nurseries, children’s centres, family hubs, schools, museums and leisure centres. However, not all children currently have the same opportunities in life, as shown in the data above. These inequalities are not fixed, and can be reduced through the choices and actions we take.
Across Leeds, there is a clear commitment to giving every child the best start in life and to narrowing gaps in health outcomes, as reflected in the city’s key strategies and plans Best Start and Beyond Strategy 2025-2035
