News and events

If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.

If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. We’ll add your benefit onto this card every 4 weeks.

You can use your card to buy:

• plain liquid cow’s milk
• fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables
• fresh, dried, and tinned pulses
• infant formula milk based on cow’s milk

You can also use your card to collect:

• Healthy Start vitamins – these support you during pregnancy and breastfeeding
• vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old

Visit NHS Healthy Start to apply

Find out about support with food across the city here 

A free interactive pregnancy and parenting app created to support parents, co-parents and caregivers.

Portsmouth City Council are delighted to continue the delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme during the Easter, Summer and Christmas 2022 school holidays. Funded by the Department for Education, we can provide free holiday provision, including nutritious food and enriching activities, for children aged 5-16 who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals.

HAF Fun Pompey – PYC Portsmouth

Family Assist is an innovative new way of ensuring that parents and their friends and families have access to a wide range of information and resources

Ready for Pregnancy

Get out of hours support for your mental health in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport, Havant and East Hampshire.

The Samaritans Portsmouth

Talking Change

Talking therapies available including self-refferal

Solent Mind

Making sure that anyone with a mental health problem has somewhere to turn to for advice and support. Mental health experts can help if you feel low, worried or anxious and need to talk

A guide to develop and learn with ideas for your little ones

Home – BBC Bitesize

All about how children express and process emotions, from toddler tantrums to childhood fears. Find loads of tips and advice on understanding children’s emotional development, behaviour and wellbeing.

Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child’s language skills. Explore simple activities and play ideas and find out about babies and toddlers’ amazing early development.

BBC Tiny Happy People

An app to guide and asssit you with common childhood illnesses.

Using an easy-to-follow traffic light system, you’ll find clear information on common childhood illnesses, including advice on what signs to look out for, when and where to seek help if required, what you should do to keep your child comfortable and how long your child’s symptoms are likely to last.

Get advice and support from Stop Domestic Abuse. Open 9am – 9pm Mon – Fri, 10am – 6pm weekends and bank holidays.

0330 0533 630 (option 10).

Phoneline open for emergencies only on Christmas Day/Boxing Day. You can also find information at stopdomesticabuse.uk

Contact the adult social care team on 023 9268 0810 (including out of hours) or email ASCoppdAdmin@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Contact the children’s social care and safeguarding team on 023 9283 9111

023 9268 8793 (0300 555 1373 out of hours) or email: MASH@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Directory of Services in Portsmouth

Information, tips and advice on potty training ERIC

On the year we celebrated 30 years of support to families across Portsmouth, Home-Start Portsmouth proudly made a difference to many lives through our wonderful team of volunteers and staff

Read our 2022-23 Impact Report here

At Home-Start we believe that every child has the right to protection from all forms of abuse or harm. The overall purpose of this policy and its associated procedures is to protect the welfare of children and young people using and receiving the services Home-Start provide.

Concerns & Complaints Procedure