7 March 2006
The Abbey Wood community celebrated their new addition on Thursday, with the opening of the Mulberry Park Children’s Centre.
Parents and their children were invited along to the official opening of the new building located next to Boxgrove Primary School, to find out more about the new services available to them; with information stalls for parents and activities for children, it was an enjoyable day for all.
The opening day began with speeches from Councillor Jackie Smith and John Austin, MP for Erith and Thamesmead. Mayor of Greenwich, Councillor Dr Paul Tyler was also there.
Councillor Jackie Smith, Greenwich Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, said,
“I know that the new Mulberry Park Children’s Centre is already proving very popular with local people. I’m very proud of everyone who has been involved in creating this wonderful facility.
“The Children’s Centre will provide an invaluable service to local families, and I’m sure that it will have a really positive impact on the lives of local parents and their children.”
The new services at the Mulberry Park Children’s Centre include:
· The Grace Neighbourhood Nursery – Providing 50 full-time nursery places between 7.30am and 6pm five days a week. This includes a baby room, a two to three year-olds room and a three to five year-olds room.
· The William Temple Créche – The crèche provides care for young children, so that parents can attend appointments, go shopping or simply just have time to themselves.
· The Primary Care Trust; who have midwives, health visitors and a breastfeeding team on site to give information and advice
· Greenwich Local Labour and Business; an employment agency that provides training and employment opportunities to clients and is dedicated to getting parents back into jobs
· The Abbey Wood and Thamesmead Childminding Network
· Job Centre Plus
· The Abbey Wood Clinic and many more.
The Mulberry Park Children’s Centre, funded by London Development Agency, Big Lottery Fund, Woolwich and North Bexley Partnership, Sure Start and Greenwich Council, is one of 16 centres that will be opened in 2006 with another seven centres being planned for opening by 2008.
To find out more about the services at Mulberry Park Contact the Abbey Wood Sure Start team on 020 8311 4161. Or for more information on the Grace Neighbourhood Nursery call 020 8310 0040.
ENDS
For more information please call David Harrison on 020 8921 5214.
Notes to editors:
The William Temple Crèche has been a successful pre school in Abbey Wood for 40 years and as a result, it has now been incorporated into the new Children’s Centre.
The Grace Neighbourhood Nursery’s most recent success has been that all parents of the children who attend the nursery have either taken up training or have returned to work.
Background
Children’s centres are a key element in Greenwich Council’s Modernisation Programme bringing together major investment in buildings and technology to improve the accessibility of services to Greenwich residents.
The Council believes investment in such centres will make significant changes by giving children a better start in life and supporting parents with more help and information when they need it, by offering them real choices about training and employment.
Funding
Greenwich Neighbourhood Renewal is supporting Children's Centres across the borough, by contributing £2m of investment to help ensure that there are Children's Centres in all of the most deprived areas of Greenwich. The development of the Mulberry Park Children’s Centre also involved Sure Start and SRB funding.