Shout out for a Sure Start
The children’s charity 4Children has launched a campaign to protect the Sure Start programme, which has the support of the public services union Unison and Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls, along with Chuka.
While Labour is committed to the continuation of this well loved and hard fought-for programme, the Conservatives refuse to say whether or not they would protect the service.
‘Shout Out for a Sure Start’ aims to show how much support there is for the Sure Start programme among parents and in the wider community and demonstrate that attempts to make cuts will be met with firm resistance.
The Sure Start local programmes have been one of Labour’s flagship initiatives – before 1997 there were no Sure Start children centres, and last week – 12 years later – the Prime Minister and Ed Balls visited Streatham to open the country’s 3,500th centre. These centres are so important because they bring a variety of services under one roof, meaning that parents don’t have to navigate a number of disparate institutions in order to provide for their child’s wellbeing.
Ed Balls has referred to the Sure Start initiative as being a “new pillar of our welfare state for the 21st Century”. Sure Start provides childcare, healthcare, parenting advice, family support and opportunities to get back into work or training. Currently the service offers 12.5 hours of free early years childcare per week to children between 3-4 which will soon increase to 15 hours per week. Lambeth is one of thirty-four ‘pathfinder’ local authorities that is providing this service to all children between 3-4.
If you want to support your local Sure Start centre then you can sign the 4Children pledge and Ed Balls’ petition to Save our Sure Start. If you feel particularly strongly about one of Streatham’s ten excellent Sure Start centres then you could write to 4Children letting them know about your experience.
Anne Longfield OBE, the chief executive of 4Children, commented:
“Sure Start Children’s Centres are providing real help to families across the country but often this goes unsung. That is why we want to build a mass movement of people to ‘Shout out for a Sure Start’.
“We also know that there are families who have not yet discovered their local Children’s Centre so we hope to spread the word still further and inspire more parents to find out how their Sure Start Children’s Centre could support them through all the ups and downs of family life.”
