Children's Centres open to give youngsters sure start

Ambitious plans to give county children a sure start in life will take a giant step forward later this week when two children’s Centres are officially declared open.

The centres – one in Hereford and one in Leominster – will provide unprecedented levels of support to children and their families by bringing together key organisations which provide crucial services under one roof.

The two centres to be officially opened on Friday this week, May 26, are Leominster’s Coningsby Children’s Centre at 11am and the Springfield Children’s Centre in Hereford at 2.30pm.

“This will be a fantastic day for Herefordshire’s children,” said Cllr Don Rule, Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet Member (Children and Young People).

“The icing on the cake is the fact that Sheila Scales, Director of Sure Start, Extended Schools and Childcare Group, has agreed to open the centres for us.

“This indicates not just how important these two centres are to our children, but how important centres like these are nationally,” added Cllr Rule.

Of course, centres like these provide far wider services than those provided solely by Herefordshire Council – so a strategic multi agency group has been overseeing the planning of all Herefordshire Children’s Centres.

Objectives the group are aiming to achieve include: Reaching 1,044 children under five years of age between 2004 and the end of this year, and creating 62 new targeted places in specified areas of the county during the same period.

The two centres being officially declared open this Friday join the Green Croft Children’s Centre, which has been helping and supporting families since March 2005.

Services available from the centres will include:

• Early Years and Childcare - good quality early education combined with full daycare provision for children with good teacher input to lead the development of learning
• Childminding Support and Childcare - will act as a base for childminders to meet, share good practice and offer extended care when appropriate
• Family Health Services - Health Visitors, speech and language therapy, antenatal and postnatal services
• Family Support and Outreach Services - access to specialist services, information to support at important times e.g. pre-birth to settling in childcare
• Partnership Links - effective links with Children’s Information Service, JobCentre Plus, Citizens Advice Bureau, training providers and higher education

Planning and consultation is underway for a further six children’s centres and the strategy group has recommended that the following locations are considered:

• Bromyard Hope Centre
• Ledbury
• Ross-on-Wye
• Kington
• Hereford City (north)
• Golden Valley

“These are very exciting times as these new children’s centres are going to have a positive impact on so many youngsters and their families,” added Cllr Rule.

“However, they can’t be seen in isolation from other developments, such as, for example, Extended Schools. Especially as our future in Herefordshire is about providing extended services for our communities.

“These centres will build on and blend with the current services to maximise the benefit for local children and communities,” he added.