Leeds leads the way with its new Little London Children’s centre
The Rt.Hon. Hilary Benn MP officially opened Little London’s new £1.9 million Children’s Centre, on Friday December 1st. What a fantastic event!
Far more than just a nursery, this state of the art multi-functional children’s centre in one of Leeds’ inner-city areas, offers a host of facilities to improve the lives of its community.
Families with young children in Little London will benefit from the centre’s new services, which range from health drop-ins and counselling, to jobs and housing search and carer support.
The project has been led by The Children’s Society charity and Leeds City Council. Additional funding has also been provided from central Government’s SureStart programme and Children’s Centre and European Regional Development Funds.
“A centre of excellence the Little London building is an outstanding example of what an integrated children’s centre should be,” says Steve Connor, The Children’s Society Director of Children & Young People.
“A great deal of its success is undoubtedly down to the close involvement of local people, who have truly embraced what we are all trying to achieve in improving the quality of family life,” he adds.
Coun.Richard Harker, executive member with responsibility for Early Years Services at Leeds City Council, said “I am delighted to see this fantastic centre up and running, and benefiting the community of Little London. Staff at the centre have worked really hard, alongside our partners, to make the centre such a great place for families.”
“We are committed to providing integrated services for families which can easily be accessed under one roof. Our aim is to have a centre like this in every area of the city by 2010 and are well on the way to achieving that.”
“Children’s Centres like Little London are a real hub of local communities and provide the very best start in life for children, whilst ensuring the needs of the whole family are also addressed.”
Appropriately, The Children’s Society has just launched the UK’s first independent national inquiry into ‘childhood today’. The Good Childhood Inquiry opened a national call for evidence in September, amid increasing concerns about the state of modern childhood. The findings of the inquiry’s launch report challenged assumptions that today’s youth are only interested in material possessions, whilst the two most commonly used words, when asked about what makes a good childhood, were ‘family’ and ‘friends’.
“I think Little London Children’s Centre is already making a valuable contribution within the community, taking on board some of the issues which The Good Childhood Inquiry will look at, and playing a vital role for children and parents alike,” adds Connor.
Amongst the guests at the launch, organised with help from many of the centre’s parents, was Ronnie the Rhino. The kids loved him.
Various activities were staged throughout the afternoon, including workshops run by local artists, Opera North and the Five-a-Day healthy eating programme. A focal point of the day was the release of 400 balloons, representing the children who visit the centre and those who attend the adjacent Little London Community Primary School.
Fact file
Little London Children’s Centre is just one of 60 projects run by the national Children’s Society charity. It works in partnership with communities, schools and families, helping more than 50,000 children and teenagers in the country. Visit http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Leeds plans to have 66 Children’s Centres in the city, starting with locations in the 30% most disadvantaged areas by 2008 and phased across the rest of the city by 2010.
A wide range of services are provided for families in Children’s Centres, from integrated early education and childcare for 0-5-year-olds to childcare for working parents from 8am to 6pm. Ante-natal support and teenage pregnancy services are also offered and staff visit all families within two months of a child’s birth. Parents can access advice and information about local support services. Child health promotion and support for healthy family lifestyles, including smoking cessation advice, are provided, as is specialist support in speech and language.
The Good Childhood inquiry is an independent, national inquiry into childhood, which is managed by The Children’s Society. For more information and to download the inquiry’s launch report visit http://www.goodchildhood.org.uk
Little London Children’s Centre, recently short-listed for the RIBA White Rose awards, was designed by the award-winning Leeds’ architects Bauman Lyons.
For more information visit http://www.baumanlyons.co.uk.