Following a carefully planned investment programme of over £5.7m, phase two of the County Council’s Children’s Centre programme will deliver services to 18,154 children under five and their families in 28 communities.
Children’s Centres provide a welcoming and friendly place for children under five and their families, where they can get support, advice and information on a whole range of family issues. Phase two of the County Council’s Children’s Centres programme for East Sussex is part of an overall programme to have a Children’s Centre for every community in the county by 2010.
The recent official opening of the Devonshire Children’s Centre, in Eastbourne, was chosen to also mark the successful progress of the phase two Children’s Centre programme for the county as a whole.
Parents, carers and their children were invited to the celebration event and Councillor Rupert Simmons, Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness, officially opened this latest Children’s Centre with a ribbon-and-cake-cutting ceremony. Visiting parents and carers met with staff to find out more about what is available through the new centre, while the children had fun with various arts and crafts activities and a visit from a favourite children’s television character, Peppa Pig.
Councillor Simmons said: “As well as celebrating individual openings, I am delighted to have the opportunity to recognise the success of the plans for the county as a whole. We’ve had many of these opening celebrations in recent months. The Devonshire Children’s Centre is one of the final few as we near completion of this part of programme.
“We are committed to providing these services to every community by 2010 and we are making great strides towards that aim. The programme is on target and the completion of this phase will mean more than 18,000 young children and their families will benefit from the services and support that these Children’s Centres provide.”
Councillor Rupert Simmons was joined for the opening by representatives from a variety of local services to parents and children in the area. These include the County Council’s award-winning family information service KITES, Job Centre Plus, the Childminding Network, Family Learning, Sussex Downs College, Health Visitors, and the Traveller and English as an Additional Language Service.
Provided at a cost of £680,000, the new Devonshire Children’s Centre will be managed by East Sussex County Council.
Carol Roberts, area co-ordinator for Eastbourne Children’s Centres, said: “This centre will be an excellent source of support for local families in all sorts of ways, especially for those with children under five.
“The opening event was a great opportunity for the Children’s Centre staff to find out what services local families would find most useful and what can be done to ensure these services are easily accessible. We will be working closely our partners from the statutory, voluntary and private sectors to provide those services.”
Information about Children’s Centres in East Sussex is available in local libraries, from our Children's Centres pages, by contacting the County Council’s Early Years, Childcare and Extended Schools Service – tel: 01323 747445, and at the centres themselves. For more information about the Devonshire Children’s Centre, you can contact Carol Roberts on 01323 430415 or see our page abut Devonshire Children's Centre.
Notes to editors
About The Devonshire Children’s Centre
The Devonshire Children’s Centre plans to develop a whole range of services and courses to support local families. These include:
- pop-in-and-play groups
- baby club
- family outreach service
- courses for adults with co-ordinated crèche facilities.
There will be health services, such as baby clinics, ante-natal groups and baby massaging sessions, which will run in partnership with local health visitor and midwifery teams. Parenting skills courses and back-to-work training will be available through partnerships with local education organisations. The brand new Devonshire Children's Centre adds to similar one-stop-shop services already provided for young families in the town at the Willingdon Trees, Langley, West Rise and Shinewater Children Centres.
About the Children's Centre programme
The new Devonshire Children’s Centre is part of phase two of the county-wide Children’s Centres programme for East Sussex. Over £5m has been spent on improvements – ranging from brand new buildings to smaller adaptations or refurbishments – to deliver Children’s Centre services to 28 communities across the county. Each centre provides a variety of services, developed according to the needs of the area and in co-ordination with other local Children’s Centres. Such services can include:
- childcare and early learning for young children
- health services
- family support
- a base for childminders and help into employment for parents
- parenting courses
- speech therapy
- home visiting
- parent and toddler groups
- midwifery services.
The locations for the Children’s Centres were chosen following widespread consultation with schools, parents and carers. Discussions have also involved health services, voluntary and private organisations who will work with the centres to provide services.
Reference:
1938
Contact the press team
