National award for Childcare Information Service

Herefordshire Council’s Children’s Information Service has won a prestigious national award for service delivery.

Of the 150 information service providers in the country, Hereford’s CIS is one of only 30 to have achieved the national Quality Award.

After a rigorous assessment process the Children’s Information Service (CIS) was awarded the National Association of Children’s Information Services Quality Award.

CIS, housed within the Council’s Education Directorate at Blackfriars Street in Hereford, works with partners to provide a range of information to parents on issues such as childcare, healthcare and education.

Bryan Twitty, CIS information manager, said: “CIS responds to the needs of parents of children up to the age of 14 by working with partners to provide information or referrals.

“We are very proud to have achieved the standard of service required to receive this award from the National association.

“We underwent a rigorous assessment and the award is due to the hard work of a very dedicated team which has worked tirelessly to create the CIS originally pulling funding from various bodies and setting the standard to achieve the award.

“Our strength comes from working closely with these other organizations from the public, private and voluntary sectors.”

Cllr Don Rule, Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, added: “Children’s services is a particularly demanding field and this accolade is testament to the hard-work and dedication of the CIS team.”

The CIS was established in 1999 as an independently funded partnership service operating within Herefordshire Council.

Since Jan 2002 the CIS has been incorporated into the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) to provide a range of services for Parents/Carers professionals, employers and the partnership.

The EYDCP’s role is to help and support childcare and Early Years education in Herefordshire and works with an increasing number of local partners.