Save Westbury Children's Centre from Closure

Save Westbury Children's Centre from Closure

Started
10 March 2019
Petition to
laura.mayes@wiltshire.gov.uk and 5 others
Petition Closed
This petition had 538 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Nadine Crook

Wiltshire Council are proposing to close 6 more Children’s Centres, including Westbury’s White Horse Children’s Centre. 13 of Wiltshire’s original 30 centres were closed in 2016.

Currently the Children’s Centres are accessible to everyone with children between 0-5 year olds. In the closure proposals 5 of the 6 centres, including Westbury, would be used to expand private nurseries so they could take more 0-2 year olds. They would no longer be available for public use.

The White Horse Children’s Centre is located in the top 20% of most deprived areas of the country – an area that should be a priority for Wiltshire Council to support families. Children’s Centres are not hugely expensive to run and if they pick up just one or two families who are struggling early on they will save money in the long run.

If the proposals are agreed the centres could close shortly after 1st July, 2019.

 

Our Children’s centre is a safe and welcoming space that provides:

·         Services available to everyone such as:

o         Advice and signposting to other services. Parents can drop in to the centre      and speak to the staff about parenting issues, housing and financial issues, education and support into employment

o        Groups such as the New Parent New Baby group, Mum to Mum breast feeding support group and the Little Learners group

o        The centre also hosts other services e.g. the midwives run antenatal sessions here on childbirth and breastfeeding

o        Excellent facilities e.g. stay and play facilities, a sensory room and bookshare scheme

·         Targeted services, specifically for parents / children who are having problems, such as -

o        Parenting programmes such as Being a parent – empowering parents, empowering communities course and the Incredible years parenting course

o       Courses that support mothers who have or are experiencing domestic abuse

o       Early years staff work closely with other staff, e.g. Health Visitors and Speech and Language Therapists

When my closest Children’s Centre closed in Warminster, I lost access to the amazing staff, the fantastic facilities and all of the groups except the breast feeding support group,  despite Wiltshire Council’s promises to continue groups in community buildings. Without the building it is easy to cut services.

Over the last few years Wiltshire Council has spent tens of millions of pounds on new buildings for its campus programme (eg Melksham - £15.2 million), yet it says it cannot (or will not) afford £250,000 per year on existing buildings which can support hundreds of families who may need to access these 6 children’s centres.

We the undersigned believe that the White Horse Children’s Centre should be protected from closure. We demand that the centre remains open and continues to provide the currently level of services to this high need community.

 

This petition will be sent to Laura Mayes – Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, to the County councillors representing Westbury: David Jenkins, Russell Hawker and Gordon King and to Dr Andrew Murrison, MP.

Petition Closed

This petition had 538 supporters

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Decision-Makers

  • laura.mayes@wiltshire.gov.uk
  • david.jenkins@wiltshire.gov.uk
  • gordon.king@wiltshire.gov.uk
  • russell.hawker@wiltshire.gov.uk
  • andrew.murrison.mp@parliament.uk