Access Keys:

How do you rate this information / service?

Find My Nearest
Enter your postcode to find services and information for your area on a map e.g. schools, libraries and GP surgery
Translate this web page

06/11/03 - 50 new childcare places for Whitehaven

At 2pm on Tuesday 11 November at the Council Offices in Whitehaven, Cumbria County Council are inviting childcare providers across Cumbria to discuss the opportunity to provide 50 new Neighbourhood Nursery places for 0 – 4 year olds in Whitehaven.  Parents and children in Whitehaven will have a new nursery available in the town soon if plans from Cumbria Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership come to fruition, offering parents greater choice for their childcare.  

The new nursery places are expected to be available for children from the Whitehaven wards of Harbour, Kells, Sandwith, Mirehouse and Hensingham. To enable more children to have access to the nursery it is expected that it will be located in the Harbour ward. The organisation appointed to develop the nursery will work in partnership with existing providers of childcare and early education in the area.    

County Councillor Joan Stocker Cabinet Spokesperson for Education explains why this meeting is being held.  She says 

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the Whitehaven area. Many current childcare providers in the area are full and most nurseries in the north of Copeland have waiting lists, particularly for babies and children under 2. Childcare is a major barrier to accessing training and work opportunities. Creating the new places in the Neighbourhood Nursery will not only help parents and families with current childcare problems but also increase employment for childcare professionals.”   

Gillian Troughton, Senior Development worker for Cumbria Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership is organising the meeting.  She says,

“Neighbourhood Nurseries are one of the Government’s major childcare initiatives which are managed in Cumbria by the Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership.  Neighbourhood Nurseries will create over 600 new full day-care places in deprived areas throughout the County over the next two years.  We are looking forward to meeting with potential childcare providers to plan the way forward so that we can continue to meet the needs of the parents and children in Whitehaven.  The new Neighbourhood Nursery will make a great impact on the options for childcare in the area.”