Chesterton Parents Group

A new look for Cambridgeshire’s Child and Family Centres

Cambridgeshire County Council are launching a new approach to supporting Cambridgeshire families in April 2018.

The redesigned Child and Family Centres will better meet the needs of a growing and rural county with activities and events taking place in a range of new locations across the county and an extended focus on families with children of all ages.

The changes were agreed at full council in October 2017 following public consultation and will be discussed at the Children and Young People Committee meeting on Tuesday 13 March 2018.

Activities will be run from new communities at Northstowe and Clay Farm for the first time as well as outreach in other new locations across the county.

Adaptions have been approved to transform a youth centre at Scaldgate in Whittlesey into a new Child and Family Zone and a new space for families with children of all ages is planned for Sawtry.

Centres will create better links with and provide a base for other services including adult learning, health visiting, midwifery and social care.

Buildings that will no longer be operating as Children’s Centres will be used to boost childcare provision with up to 325 new places provided for under 5’s.
Changes will also allow much-needed school expansions to take place in Sawtry and Whittlesey.

Councillor Simon Bywater, Chairman of the Children and Young People Committee said:

I’m pleased to share more information about our new Child and Family Centres with families this week. We worked with staff, local families and young people to get their views on the new branding and updated What’s On information.

Work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure that the redesigned service is more responsive to the needs of our rapidly changing county whilst delivering the agreed savings target of £900,000 with no cuts to front-line delivery budgets.

We will continue to further develop the programme with additional activities, including more for older children and in new outreach locations, during the summer term.

What’s on Guides for each District can be seen here:

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