Building resilience through integrated community support in Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets has developed a coordinated, multi‑agency approach to supporting families experiencing financial hardship. By aligning community partnerships, welfare advice, and health‑based financial pathways, the local authority provides practical, accessible support embedded within everyday family services.

Families in Tower Hamlets are facing increasing financial pressures, with rising costs affecting access to essentials such as food, clothing, and utilities. Practitioners identified the need for a more joined‑up, proactive system that ensures families can access the right support at the right time, particularly those already engaged with Early Help services.

1. Strengthened Multi‑Agency Coordination

A strategic combating‑poverty group brings together key services to ensure a shared approach to supporting families. This enables quicker identification of need and better resource coordination.

2. Direct Essential Support Through Family Hubs

Family support workers can provide immediate essentials to families most in need. Additional community‑based provision includes:

• A Cost‑of‑Living booklet (digital and hard copy) to signpost families to local support.
• Food pantries and a community cupboard in family hubs, funded through the Household Support Fund.
• Warm hubs delivered in partnership with Idea Stores (local library and adult learning facilities).
• Laundry services in selected hubs.
• Clothes swap shops to help families manage clothing costs sustainably.

3. Financial Support and Advice

Through the Save the Children Community Power Project, eligible families can access hardship vouchers, offering immediate relief for urgent needs. The Greater London Authority (GLA) has invested £2.2m in 2026 to expand welfare advice capacity; as a result, two full‑time welfare advisors are now based in family hubs. Additional funding through the GLA’s Family Financial Resilience Partnership supports advice services across 12 London boroughs, enhancing capacity for specialist financial guidance.

4. Health‑Integrated Financial Pathways

Tower Hamlets participates in the Healthier, Wealthier Families study, which embeds financial wellbeing advice into early health contacts. Health visitors working with infants under one year can refer families experiencing hardship for tailored money advice. The study is funded by the National Institute of Health Research and evaluated by University College London (UCL). The aim is to understand how integrating financial support into healthcare pathways can improve family wellbeing outcomes.

This coordinated model helps practitioners:

• Access a clear referral pathway for families needing financial guidance.
• Provide rapid practical support through family hubs.
• Work alongside welfare advisors and health professionals to offer holistic, wrap‑around support.
• Signpost families confidently using shared tools such as the Cost‑of‑Living booklet.

• Embedding financial support within universal and early help services increases accessibility.
• Partnerships with libraries, voluntary organisations, and health services expand the reach of essential resources.
• Co‑locating welfare advisors in family hubs reduces stigma and encourages families to seek help earlier.
• Providing immediate essentials helps stabilise families so practitioners can engage them in broader support.