Ian Waller meets the West of England Mayor to talk about opportunities for families
When The Bath & Wiltshire Parent editor Ian Waller met West of England Mayor Helen Godwin, the focus was firmly on families — how to improve daily life, unlock opportunities and give every child growing up in Bath, Bristol and the wider region a fair chance to thrive.
Over coffee, the pair talked housing, schools, transport, confidence and community — all at the heart of Helen’s plans to make the West of England “the best place in the country to bring up children”.
Mum of three Helen explained that her overwhelming mission is making the region “a better place for children to grow up”, and much of her first year in office has been shaped by the experiences of parents, carers and schools. A major milestone in that work is the launch of The West of England Child Poverty Action Plan — the region’s first strategy dedicated specifically to driving down child poverty and widening opportunity.
The Action Plan begins by identifying the barriers many families face: housing that is increasingly unaffordable, transport that does not reliably connect homes to education or work, and a shortage of accessible routes into jobs. Its measures sit alongside real-life challenges parents recognise — juggling bills, navigating SEND support or watching teenagers lose belief in themselves.
For example, it states, ‘In an average 30-pupil classroom, around eight kids are living in poverty here; in one of the richest regions, in one of the most developed countries that the world has ever seen.’
As Helen puts it, “Housing is too expensive for people, and when we do build more housing, it’s not always connected due to a lack of suitable transport.”
Helen explained that she regularly hears from families doing everything expected of them yet struggling to stay afloat. “It’s the whole thing of hard work — they’re working so hard for minimum wage, but they’re still not seeing any hope.”
That loss of hope, she suggests, fuels wider frustration. “Some of the politics, the negative viewpoints, can be born out of a lack of hope and a temptation to look around for someone to blame”
The Child Poverty Action Plan aims not only to grow the local economy but ensure that growth benefits the children who need it most. That means bringing more parents — especially mothers — back into well-supported employment.
“How do we get mums back into work, including really talented mums who feel that there’s just not a way back for them?” she asks. Alongside, Helen recognises the need for retraining adults stuck in low-paid work and helping young people who are not in education or employment to find their path.
For Helen, the region’s inequalities are not abstract statistics. They are visible on any school visit. “Life expectancy differs by up to 10 years between areas within Bath or Bristol,” explains Helen. “Children start at primary school roughly in line with one another, yet as soon as they hit like 11 or 12, the gap just widens.”
A big part of her role, she argues, is making the future feel relevant and reachable. “My job is to bring that future closer so that children can see jobs that really appeal to them.
“That includes education, although that can’t be simply adding more pressure to already stretched schools. SEND pressures, mental health needs, staff shortages and funding gaps mean teachers are firefighting as well as teaching.
“The responsibility for careers’ inspiration must be shared. We need people to be going into schools and inspiring the children with options that really appeal to them.”
“The good news here is that businesses are ready to help, after all, they urgently need young people entering the skilled workplace. Construction companies, digital start-ups and creative studios all say their biggest challenge is finding the talent to grow. For me it’s a matter of making sure that the children of Bath, Bristol, Keynsham, Radstock and Midsomer Norton are the ones stepping into those jobs.”
Last year Helen was instrumental in introducing the Youth Guarantee Scheme offering free tailored support to help young people into work, education and training across Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, and South Gloucestershire. In Somerset, free bus passes are helping rural teens travel independently to training. In South Bristol, placements are supporting young people into work or apprenticeships. And employers are being coached to support neurodivergent workers, helping young people with SEND build confidence and routine.
Parents feel the knock-on impacts too. Programmes like Women’s Work Lab show that helping a mother re-enter work often leads to better outcomes for her children.
Transport plays a lively role here. Kids Go Free — which saw nearly 200,000 free journeys last Christmas and again in January — is one of Helen’s proudest initiatives. “We’ve got kids who we know would never be able to afford to go into town, and now they’re doing that,” she says. “I just think about what that gives in terms of your view of the world… navigating crowds… really good skills.”
Active travel is surging too, with School Streets, scooter days and bike buses turning small steps into cultural shifts. Segregated cycleways are on the way, and Helen wants parents — especially those walking with pushchairs — to feel safer and more confident navigating neighbourhoods. She points to Chew Stoke’s award-winning travel schemes and Easton’s Friday bike bus as joyful examples of communities creating change “because kids actually love being part of something”.
As the coffee cups empty and Helen heads to her next meeting, she reflects on what she hopes families will say in years to come. “It would be really lovely if people feel like they can talk really proudly, and link that back to their family and say, oh yeah, because now my son’s in this job with this big employer.”
Her ambition is simple: every child — wherever they live, however they learn — should feel the West of England belongs to them, and their future is here.
You can find out more about Helen and her work with the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority at www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/about-us/the-mayor/
