Families in Ledbury are enjoying new services following the opening of a new children's centre.
Ledbury Children's Centre, next to Ledbury Primary School, Longacres has been built by Herefordshire Council with funding from the government's Sure Start programme. The new centre aims to provide a whole range of services for families with children aged 0-5.
Since the building was completed earlier this year a new manager, Kim Gristy has been appointed and a variety of exciting activities and community-led services are now being offered to the local community. A big launch is planned for the autumn term once all the staff have been recruited and trained.
So far there is a very successful post natal group which meets once a week, sing and sign sessions for parents and their toddlers and an anti-natal class which is run by the local midwives and health visitors. In addition, a young parents' group meets every week.
The local library runs regular sessions to help parents and toddlers enjoy books and language together, speech and language sessions are being provided on a weekly basis by the Primary Care Trust and Happi Kids is running a weekly educational service to support the development of referred pre-school children with additional needs.
Once the centre is fully up and running there will be other activities and services provided to meet the needs of the families and community. In addition, the centre's staff will be travelling out into the surrounding rural area to see if there are any services needed and explore ways of providing them.
Councillor Jenny Hyde, cabinet member for children and young people, said: "Parents and young children need to be provided with the right environment to encourage them to try new things. Although it's still early days, this environment is already being provided at Ledbury Children's Centre which is why the number of users is increasing.
"The children's centre complements the services provided by the area's schools making it easier for parents to get information and help with all the challenges associated with raising a family."