LB Croydon: Designing and Facilitating a Multi-Agency Strategy Launch: Infant Feeding and Parental Mental Health
Supporting Croydon to launch their Infant Feeding and Parental Mental Health Strategies
Our team worked in partnership with Croydon Council and system partners to design, develop and facilitate the launch of Croydon’s Infant Feeding Strategy (2024–2029) and Parental Mental Health Strategy (2025–2029).
The brief was to create a structured, engaging launch that would bring partners together, build shared ownership, and support implementation across the borough.
Croydon wanted to ensure the launch would:
- move beyond a traditional presentation-based event
- actively engage partners across health, local authority and voluntary sector services
- strengthen understanding of the strategies and their practical implications
- support relationship-building across the system
- encourage shared responsibility for delivery
They needed an experienced facilitation team to design an event that balanced strategic leadership messages, lived experience, and interactive partnership working.
We worked collaboratively with Croydon colleagues to:
Design the full event structure
- Developed the agenda and session flow
- Shaped keynote contributions to align with the strategic narrative
- Created interactive activities focused on real family journeys and service pathways
Develop facilitation materials
- Produced facilitation plans and session guidance
- Designed discussion prompts to support meaningful partner conversations
- Created tools to capture commitments and learning
Facilitate the launch event
- Led the event on the day
- Guided discussions and activities
- Supported speakers and ensured the programme ran smoothly
- Helped maintain a strong focus on whole-family, inclusive support for parents and babies
Rather than focusing on presentations alone, the event was designed as a collaborative system workshop.
Participants were supported to explore:
- what families need in practice
- where families go first for support
- how services connect around families
- what each organisation can contribute to delivery
This approach ensured the launch became a starting point for implementation — not just a communications exercise.
Impact
The facilitated approach helped:
- create strong engagement across a wide range of partners
- build shared understanding of the strategies
- strengthen cross-service relationships
- generate practical commitments to support delivery
- position the strategies as a shared partnership responsibility
Feedback highlighted the value of structured facilitation in helping partners move quickly from awareness to action.
Our role
We supported Croydon through:
✔ Event design and development
✔ Strategic facilitation planning
✔ Multi-agency workshop facilitation
✔ Interactive partnership engagement
✔ Capturing outputs to inform next steps
Commissioner Feedback
"The facilitation of our Infant Feeding and Parental Mental Health Strategy launch was excellent. The Interface team created a well-structured and engaging event that brought partners together in a meaningful way, helping us move beyond simply presenting the strategies to building shared understanding and commitment to delivery. Their leadership on the day ensured the event ran smoothly while keeping a strong focus on families’ experiences and the practical implications for services. It was inspiring to bring colleagues together to celebrate the work and begin shaping the next stage of implementation."
Start for Life Strategic Lead, London Borough of Croydon