A NEW mascot designed by Southend children for a scheme to support little ones and their families has been unveiled.

The National Lottery funded ten-year programme, A Better Start, is aims to give families ‘a better start’ by giving them a say on the services and support they get.

It is hoped the mascot will be a fun and engaging way to raise awareness of the service.

The mascot will act as a fun and engaging way to raise awareness of the services provided by A Better Start.

A launch event saw more than 50 children and parents attending, including those who have been involved in bringing the mascot to life.

Children created their ideas during mascot innovation groups held during the summer, before four options were shortlisted.

The winning choice of mascot was chosen by the public who were able to vote at a number of locations in Southend. In total, more than 1,000 people voted.

Michelle Gray, one of the parent champions who helped develop the mascot said: “The mascot has been designed, inspired and created for children by children.

“It has been amazing and really enjoyable to be part of.”

Jeff Banks, Director of A Better Start Southend, said: “The new mascot is a wonderful, visually engaging way to introduce families with young children to A Better Start Southend and the fantastic work we are doing for Southend’s next generation.

“It has been great to see the journey progress and how children have been involved all along the way.”

The scheme runs free projects for children under four, and their parents, in six wards across the town; Kursaal, Milton, Victoria, Westborough, Shoeburyness and West Shoebury wards.

Children’s magician Crazy Ryan recently attended Kursaal ward as part of A Better Start’s free activities and events.

Families were treated to magic, songs, dancing and other activities.

The event saw new parents come down to find out about the range of free projects for the under 4s and throughout 2019, there will be a host more of free parent engagement activities taking place.

For more information, contact the parent engagement team on 01702 356069.

Residents can also find out if they are in a A Better Start area by checking their postcode on the ‘our areas’ section online, at southend.gov.uk/locations.