National Association of Family Information Services

How will you take part?

National Family Week will be back, bigger and better in 2010. The Week runs from Monday 31st May to Sunday 6th June and offers a unique opportunity to promote the good work your local authority does to engage and support families and family life locally, within the positive context of a celebratory national occasion.

Essentially National Family Week aims to highlight the important role families play in society and encourage healthy active lifestyles and quality family time. Now in its second year, National Family Week is the largest coalition on family issues and is backed by all major political parties and a huge range of national charities, local authorities, community groups, visitor attractions and sporting associations - including the DCSF, NAFIS and Change 4 Life - plus a whole host of celebrities. The inaugural National Family Week which took place between the 25th and 31st May last year saw over 4,000 events happening across the country and garnered over 1,300 pieces of media coverage.

Get involved!

Why not be a part of National Family Week 2010 and organise family-friendly events and activities for families in your local community? Events can happen at any time during The Week, but you may wish to tie in your plans with one of The Week’s theme days, for example the Family Week Picnic on Monday 31st May, Family Week Film Day on Tuesday 1st June, Family Week Story Time on Wednesday 2nd June, or the Family Week Sports Day on Saturday 5th June.

Your local authority can run events to showcase the good work that you do, to get a serious message across to families or simply to have fun. They could be pre-existing events, just co-branded National Family Week and promoted throughout our media channels, or new events run specifically for The Week. Branded materials such as stickers, posters, bookmarks and balloons will be supplied at no cost.

Running an event doesn’t have to be too onerous and take up many resources. For example, in 2009 the average cost for a local authority to put on a Family Week Picnic for 1,000 people was £500 and you can engage with other departments from across the local authority to help with planning and publicising the event as well as local charities and community groups.

However, if an event is not something you are able to cater for, why not encourage other departments in your local authority to provide family discounts and offers in sports centres, theatres, libraries and museums, or open your doors for taster sessions. Also, please promote National Family Week through your marketing materials directing people to the website from April onwards; allowing families to find out more about events happening in your area.

For further information on the plans for The Week, ideas sheets, theme day toolkits and promotional resources, visit the National Family Week website at www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk and register for the Partner Zone.

National Family Week can offer your local authority a great opportunity to promote your services to families and tie in with your objectives. To receive editorial copy to promote The Week or to discuss your involvement, please contact Bee Sachania on 020 7871 0189 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .