3,000 Sure Start Children’s Centres Open

Gordon Brown and other government ministers have welcomed the opening of the Sure Start Centres, and said that the centres had played a vital role in helping parents bring up the Sure Start generation over the last ten years.

Gordon Brown commented: "Sure Start Children’s Centres provide a vital service for families up and down the country. I know from the many I have visited the real and lasting impact they can have on families by providing them with services which can transform children’s lives.

"Today is a fantastic chance for us to say thank you to all the people who work in Sure Start centres for the work they do to help bring up the next generation.

"They form the foundations to so many communities and will not be subject to funding cuts. It is essential we keep investing in the help people need when times are tough - it is the only fair thing to do and it will get us out of this global recession faster than if we try and cut back vital services like these."

Sure Start centres provide a range of free services for all families including childcare; expert advice on healthcare; advice on parenting and links to training and job opportunities.

Some centres also have services like mini gyms, vegetable patches, cookery facilities, fathers’ groups, multi-sensory rooms, as well as visiting speech therapists and advice sessions run by midwives and health visitors.

As part of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learners Bill currently going through Parliament, Sure Start Children’s Centres will be legally recognised as a part of the universal infrastructure for children’s services and by March 2010 there will be 3,500 centres providing access services to all families.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said: “Ten years ago there were no Sure Start centres at all. Now there are 3,000 round the country, benefiting 2.4 million families.

“Sure Start centres are for everyone - whatever their income, whatever their background and whatever their needs or those of their children. They are one of the genuine universal services of this country - like state schools and the NHS - which are accessible and aimed at all families.

“We now have a generation of children and families who have grown up with Sure Start centres and in the current period of economic downturn families around the country will find their services invaluable - whether it's advice on benefits or training.”