Mary Northrop, Gail Pittam and Woody Caan of the Faculty of Health & Social Care have produced a case study to evaluate the impact of an innovative Sure Start located in the east of England. The evaluation addressed the expectations of parents/carers for themselves and their children and the extent to which Sure Start contributed to their achievement. A distinction was made between regular users and families that did not engage with the services.

The participants were 67 local families (160 individuals), all of whom had at least one child born between August 2001 and April 2004.

Families that were actively engaged with Sure Start identified a huge range of benefits, especially greater social inclusion. The expectations of families who were 'active users' of Sure Start services matched the aims of Sure Start, and were being met.

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