Published on Thursday 16 July 2026 at 3:39 pm
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Early Years Service recently took part in research which explored the integration of early learning, education and childcare with broader early years family support.
Published on Wednesday 15 July 2026 at 2:27 pm
The UK government has announced a social media ban for under-16s which is intended to come in to force by Spring 2027.
Filed under: Children's literature festival | Christina Gabbitas | Council Leader | Leader | Leader letter | Leader Phil Riley | open letter
Published on Wednesday 8 July 2026 at 1:24 pm
Students in Blackburn with Darwen have become the first in the country to complete a pioneering new digital and technology scholarship scheme.
Published on Friday 26 June 2026 at 11:17 am
Blackburn with Darwen have launched their biggest-ever Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) Programme, offering FREE activities and FREE meals for those eligible.
Filed under: HAF | Holiday Activities & Food
Published on Friday 12 June 2026 at 3:01 pm
Hundreds of excited schoolchildren erupted into loud cheers and rounds of applause when legendary author and poet Michael Rosen made a special guest appearance at the Blackburn with Darwen Children’s Literature Festival.
Published on Tuesday 2 June 2026 at 5:25 pm
Blackburn with Darwen is celebrating a major national achievement as its SEND Parent Champion scheme, (supported by Family Hubs), gains another recognition at the Coram National Parent Champions Awards.
Filed under: SEND | SEND Parent champion
Published on Tuesday 2 June 2026 at 11:54 am
Skilled and dedicated staff at a council run short break service for children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and autism, have been praised for their ‘outstanding’ work by Ofsted.
Filed under: Apple Trees | OFSTED | Outstanding
Published on Friday 29 May 2026 at 4:35 pm
A Blackburn author and educator has received a national award in recognition of her efforts to empower young people to speak out about county lines exploitation and knife crime.
Filed under: Brayden Hartley | Children's literature festival | Christina Gabbitas
Published on Thursday 28 May 2026 at 12:29 pm
The legendary author and poet, Michael Rosen, is set to headline Blackburn with Darwen’s hugely successful Children’s & Young People’s Literature Festival which starts on June 8.
Published on Friday 22 May 2026 at 3:58 pm
Little Harwood Family Hub was honoured to host the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel De Souza this week (21st May 2026).
Filed under: Children and Young People | children's centres | Children's Commissioner | Family Hubs
Published on Wednesday 20 May 2026 at 4:02 pm
Lancashire’s biggest making festival will take over Blackburn town centre on 4th & 5th July for a family-friendly weekend packed with exhibitions, live performances, hands-on making activities, film screenings, makers markets, street food and lots more.
Published on Thursday 26 March 2026 at 10:39 am
As part of Exploitation Week, Blackburn with Darwen Family Help Engage Team brought together agencies from across the borough to shine a spotlight on key issues facing young people today.
Filed under: building safer futures | child exploitation | engage | schools | Schools and Education
Published on Tuesday 24 March 2026 at 4:09 pm
A new youth provision at Audley & Queen’s Park Children’s Centre is near completion – part of almost £10m of new investment in facilities for young people across the borough.
Filed under: Audley | Audley and Queens Park | Children and Young People | childrens centre | IMO | YIF | YIF funding
Published on Thursday 12 March 2026 at 4:02 pm
Blackburn author Christina Gabbitas is adapting her popular book – Believe in Magic – into a play.
Filed under: Christina Gabbitas | KGH | King George's Hall | Theatre
Published on Wednesday 4 March 2026 at 4:30 pm
Star Academies is set to anchor a £45m landmark regeneration scheme in Blackburn town centre – part of the largest development of its kind in the Lancashire region.
Published on Tuesday 3 March 2026 at 11:49 am
The finishing touches are being made to Darwen’s brand new youth centre – part of almost £10m of new investment in facilities for young people across the borough.
Published on Thursday 12 February 2026 at 10:58 am
Following a successful 12 months at Little Harwood Family Hub, birth registrations and declarations are now available in Darwen.
Filed under: Family Hub Darwen | Family Hubs
Published on Thursday 18 December 2025 at 9:38 pm
Blackburn with Darwen Family Hubs are offering support for parents who may be facing difficulties in their relationships – whether they’re still together or co-parenting.
Filed under: Family Hub | Family Hubs | healthy relationships | parents | reducing parental conflict
Published on Tuesday 16 December 2025 at 10:37 am
The annual Celebration of Achievement for Children in our Care and Care Leavers took place at Ewood Park.
Published on Tuesday 25 November 2025 at 9:33 am
Young Peoples Services are celebrating after another successful bid for a Youth Investment Fund (YIF) project.
Published on Tuesday 18 November 2025 at 2:56 pm
Blackburn with Darwen has received new funding from the government for its Family Hubs.
The exciting 4.5 million is until 2029 and has been received to be used for Best Start Family Hubs.
Filed under: Family Hub | Family Hubs | funding | government funding
Published on Tuesday 11 November 2025 at 10:38 am
Blackburn with Darwen’s Youth Member of Parliament, Zainab Shah, proudly represented the voices of local children and young people at the annual UK Youth Parliament debate in the House of Commons.
Filed under: BwD Youth Forum | UK Youth Parliament | Youth MP
Published on Wednesday 5 November 2025 at 10:59 am
Youth workers from Blackburn with Darwen, Young People’s Services (YPS) are proudly highlighting the difference they make in young people’s lives as part of Youth Work Week 2025.
Filed under: YIF | Youth Investment Fund | Youth Work | Youth work week
Published on Monday 3 November 2025 at 4:21 pm
Blackburn based football club, Mill Hill Juniors, is celebrating after securing a £4,000 donation.
The donation comes from Persimmon Homes Lancashire after the club applied for funding through the housebuilders Community Champions initiative.
Filed under: football club | funding | Mill Hill | new homes
Published on Friday 17 October 2025 at 11:05 am
Blackburn born author Christina Gabbitas has gained national recognition for her work on the serious issues of county lines exploitation and related knife crime.
Filed under: author | books | Christina Gabbitas | council officer | county lines | poetry | reading
Published on Friday 19 September 2025 at 12:54 pm
An artist’s impression has been revealed showing how an empty building could be transformed into a multi-million-pound post 16 Special Educational Needs centre in Blackburn town centre.
Published on Thursday 14 August 2025 at 3:38 pm
Primary school children in the borough have attended swimming lessons over 27,000 times in the past 12 months, with a huge focus given on water safety.
Filed under: Blackburn | children | Councillor Jim Smith | Councillor Julie Gunn | Darwen | leisure | Leisure centre | Pool | swimming | Swimming Lessons
Published on Wednesday 6 August 2025 at 3:55 pm
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council would like to thank all parents, carers, children and young people who took part in the recent consultation on the future delivery of our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inclusion provision.
Filed under: childrens | Executive board
Published on Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 12:48 pm
Ofsted inspectors have praised Livesey Family Hub for meeting the needs of local children and providing exceptional support for those who need it most.
Filed under: Family Hub | Family Hubs | Livesey | OFSTED | Outstanding
Published on Thursday 10 July 2025 at 4:15 pm
A children’s home that operates a short break and outreach service has maintained its ‘Outstanding’ judgement from Ofsted.
Published on Thursday 26 June 2025 at 2:00 pm
Work is progressing on the multi-million-pound development of a new youth centre in Darwen, with a steel frame now being craned into place.
Published on Monday 16 June 2025 at 1:53 pm
A new planning application has been submitted for a multi-million-pound post 16 Special Educational Needs centre in Blackburn town centre.
Published on Friday 23 May 2025 at 2:17 pm
The annual transitional meeting for early years providers and reception teachers, to assist with children’s crossover to school, took place on Monday.
Published on Wednesday 14 May 2025 at 12:52 pm
Blackburn with Darwen Council Fostering Service, and the Foster with Us Recruitment Hub, have launched the start of Foster Care Fortnight with this year’s theme being ‘the power of relationships’.
Filed under: foster care | fostering | fosterwithus
Published on Friday 2 May 2025 at 10:33 am
A new planning application is set to be submitted for a multi-million-pound post 16 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Centre in Blackburn town centre.
Published on Thursday 3 April 2025 at 1:13 pm
A Council run short break service for children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and autism, has been praised for their ‘outstanding’ work by Ofsted.
Filed under: Apple Trees | OFSTED
Published on Friday 28 March 2025 at 10:53 am
Work to demolish the existing Darwen Youth Centre building to pave the way for a multi-million-pound transformation is set to get underway.
Published on Wednesday 5 February 2025 at 5:48 pm
Lancashire’s new combined county authority (CCA) has officially come into being.
The Statutory Instrument which enabled the formation of the new body passed through the final legislative process in Parliament late last week and has now been formerly signed by Jim McMahon OBE MP, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution.
Published on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 5:06 pm
A free family fun cyber day is taking place on Saturday, February 8, at Blackburn College with lots of cyber and digital activities in collaboration with local community groups IMO and OneVoice.
Filed under: Blackburn | Blackburn College | cyber fest
Published on Wednesday 22 January 2025 at 11:31 am
A brand-new Repair Space has just launched at The Making Rooms in Blackburn, aiming to tackle e-waste and promote digital inclusion.
Published on Friday 17 January 2025 at 11:42 am
Students in Blackburn with Darwen are set to be the first in the whole country to benefit from a pioneering new scholarship scheme in cyber and e-sports.
Published on Monday 13 January 2025 at 3:57 pm
Blackburn with Darwen’s Family Hubs are celebrating a funding boost after 18 months of transforming family support services since their opening in June 2023.
Filed under: Family Hub | Family Hubs
Published on Tuesday 24 December 2024 at 1:11 pm
Care Leavers Christmas gifts were distributed at their winter event after generous donations from local businesses and partner agencies.
Filed under: care leavers | Children and Young People | children in care | christmas care leavers
Published on Friday 6 December 2024 at 3:56 pm
How about this for a fabulous Christmas surprise… Blackburn is set to get its own pop-up festive tavern, and it opens next week!
Published on Thursday 28 November 2024 at 1:30 pm
We are launching a new campaign to let residents who rent their homes know how they can get support if they have damp or mould.
Filed under: Councillor | Damian Talbot | Damp and Mould | help | Housing | public health | support
Published on Tuesday 26 November 2024 at 4:17 pm
The annual Celebration of Achievement for Children in our Care and Care Leavers took place at Ewood Park last week.
Published on Tuesday 26 November 2024 at 3:40 pm
A three-day recruitment event will be hosted by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Blackburn College in February 2025.
Filed under: Careers and jobs | employment | get job ready | jobs
Published on Tuesday 26 November 2024 at 10:17 am
How about this for work experience! Impressively, a cohort of trainees from the Blackburn-based ‘Futures in Film Academy’ were invited to join the production team behind the brand-new and critically acclaimed, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light.
Published on Tuesday 12 November 2024 at 2:16 pm
The Young BwD Youth Foundation celebrated National Youth Work Week at Blackburn Youth Zone on Thursday 7th November.
Filed under: Children and Young People | Children's events | Young peoples Services | Youth Organisations | YPS
