A further 26 children's centres are being planned by Norfolk County Council following its receipt of 6m in Government funding, announced by children's minister Margaret Hodge during a visit to Yarmouth Children's Centre on 11 April. The council plans to turn the county's ten existing Sure Start centres into children's centres.
The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham has opened its first children's centre. Abbey Children's Centre is a purpose-built facility bringing together the existing SureStart Abbey Local Programme and the new Abbey Neighbourhood Nursery. The nursery will provide 52 childcare places, while the creche is registered for up to 14 children and has a sensory area for the disabled.
Wakefield in West Yorkshire saw the opening of the 1.2m Castle Children's Centre on 26 April. The centre, formerly known as the Sandal Agbrigg Pre-Five Centre, is Wakefield's first designated children's centre.
It will provide up to 60 full-time and part-time childcare and early years education places. Services such as Sure Start, speech and language therapy, parent partnership and health visiting will also have access to the centre.
Another 13 children's centres are due to open across the Wakefield district in the next 12 months.
Happy Nursery Days in Lambeth, London, will officially open its doors on 20 May. The neighbourhood nursery has been funded by Ekaya Housing Association, St Martins Community Partnership, Sure Start and the London Development Agency. It is currently raising funds to develop an eco-friendly garden with a play area and vegetable patch.
Four neighbourhood nurseries have opened in the London Borough of Hounslow.
Julia Gault, deputy director of the Sure Start Unit at the DfES, opened Nursery on the Green in Heston West, Crane Park Nursery in Hanworth, Chuckles in Feltham and Places for Children Neighbourhood Nursery in Hounslow. Ms Gault said, 'I have seen the huge effort that has gone into making neighbourhood nurseries successful. Those in Hounslow are a great example of what we would like to see nationally.'
