The picture was taken last night. At lunchtime today the community shop was full of children and parents.
During half term Abingdon’s Children’s Centres (north and south) joined together to put on events at the community shop.
The Children’s Centres always have a lot going on to help young families – particularly those who have not been given the best start in life.
Oxfordshire County Council have been holding public meetings locally in: Banbury, Oxford, Wantage, Didcot and Witney – trying to gauge the public mood for possible cost cutting measures. They say a further £60m of savings are needed this year from their annual budget.
One of their cost saving proposals is to shut the vast majority of Oxfordshire’s Children Centres.
The Prime Minister, who lives in Witney, and who is responsible for reducing Oxfordshire’s annual government grant, is against that idea.
We spend more than most countries on foreign aid. To say nothing of the taxpayers money given to the E U to spend on endless bureaucracy. U K residents are being robbed of our own services to send money around the rest of the world. We have food banks in this country and people have to choose between food and heating. M P’s want to be big players on the world stage to the detriment of us all.
A terrible situation all round. Employees facing the loss of their jobs; children and families losing much-needed support.
People were [rightly] up in arms about libraries closing and successfully campaigned/lobbied to find a way to keep them going.
Let’s see a similar reaction, folks, to the plight to tese vulnerable members of OUR community: workers and families.
Children’s Centres are excellent centres for families to learn about best practices for parenting and bringing up children. They are open to all families with children and they undertake excellent support work with vulnerable families. Abingdon has two Children’s Centres – one in the North of the town and one in the South. Together they have helped many local young families over the years.
The Centres also help young families with specialist help from partner organisations such as advice on nutrition, breast feeding, language development, home support and many other services.
Cutting services to children not only involves throwing away a basic level of help for our young families but will also add to the problems of the future with youngsters who will feel excluded from society.
We really must do all we can to persuade the County Council and the Government to keep these Centres open.