Holyrood Ward Lib Dem Focus Team

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Save our local Children’s Centre

by prestwichfocus on 3 September, 2014

Bury Council will tonight (Wednesday 3 September 2014) consider a proposal to close EIGHT of the borough’s Children’s Centres.

This would include closing the Children’s Centre in the heart of Holyrood Ward – Toodle Hill Children’s Centre on Cuckoo Lane. Butterstile Children’s Centre would also close, and the only provision remaining open in Prestwich would be the Sedgley Children’s Centre on Bishops Road.

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Currently the service is a ‘universal’ service (i.e. anyone can make use of the services), but if the proposals happen the the only service that would be offered would be a ‘targeted’ service – i.e. for those people who are identified as being most in need.

The proposal is that seven of the eight Children’s Centres would be rented out to nursery operators to run as nurseries.

The government is extending the current nursery provision to offer 15 hours of nursery care for less well off families so the Council have identified a need for more nurseries.

We are extremely concerned by these proposals. It’s great about the child care guarantee from Government, but Children’s Centres have only been open a few years in Prestwich, but many families have found them a great service to help give children a good start in life.

Toolde Hill is actually the ONLY council run facility in Holyrood Ward, and one of the few community venues we have which seems a great shame to lose. We are very concerned that parents and families in most need will not make the journey to Sedgley Park to use services which is significantly less convenient to people than Cuckoo Lane.

A campaign group has been set up oppose the proposals which, if agreed, will see a twelve week ‘consultation’ period.

Find out more and add your support at their Facebook Page here.

Read the Bury Times article on the subject here.

   2 Comments

2 Responses

  1. Rachel Bolton says:

    Thanks for your input with this. It’s really important that we fight to save the services currently offered by Toodle Hill, they are vital for ALL parents in the area. We need as many parents, carers, grandparents, child minders or anyone against the proposals to speak up during the consultation period. Whilst cuts may be necessary there must be other ways to provide the services currently offered in a more cost effective way without disadvantaging the parents of Bury.

  2. Stacy Blinkhorn says:

    I’ve been taking my son to the children’s centres since he was 3 months and he is now 15 month old. I have seen him come on so much in that time whilst being able to watch and play with other children and develop his skills by watching others as he is an only child j. He was 4 weeks early so that is a big achievement. Me and my partner both have disabilities and without the support of the children’s centres we’d be lost as first time parents. We have all made new friends with other parents and their children so to close them would be a huge shame for everyone.

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