CALLINGTON and Gunnislake are set to see an improvement in family services prior to the opening of two new Sure Start children?s centres in the area next spring. Temporary bases have been set up in Callington Town Hall and Delaware Primary School where families can find help and support as well as join in new activities with their children. The childrens? centres, focusing on 0-5-year-olds and their families, will be built at Callington and Delaware Primary Schools in the second phase of a building programme by Cornwall County Council which has already seen more than 20 constructed in the county. But in the meantime open house sessions are being held in the temporary venues on Wednesdays at Delaware (from 9.30am to 11.30am) and Friday at Callington (from 10am to noon). Parents will be able to talk to family support workers, health visitors and dental professionals and bring forward ideas about clubs and activities they would like to see in their area. Children?s centre manager for Callington and Delaware Rachel Collard said the open sessions had been running for a few weeks and were proving successful. ?We are looking at setting up a parents? forum group, we have a free parenting course running at the town hall and there is a weekly swimming trip starting later this month to Launceston Swimming Pool where parents and children will be picked up and taken home again,? she said. Mrs Collard said that by the New Year, it was hoped to set up a fathers? group and the centre was also looking at ways of supporting a cookery group for young parents. ?We will be looking at rural areas which do not have playgroups or pre-schools with the possibility of setting up stay and play sessions there once a week. If people do not have transport it is very difficult to access facilities so we may be able to bring something to them.? In line with Government guidelines every community in Cornwall will have access to a children?s centre by 2010. Through these facilities, the Government aims to improve health outcomes for children and families, reduce crime rates and child poverty, enable parents to study and work and help lone parents to access work and training opportunities. Children?s centres are expected to be models of integrated service provision where primary care trusts, local authorities, Jobcentre Plus, education and childcare providers, social services and community and voluntary agencies all work together to deliver ?seamless holistic services.? To find out more about the children?s centre services in Delaware and Callington contact Rachel Collard on 01579 324950.
