It's great news that a popular children’s playgroup, housed in a temporary prefab at Fiveways for the last 34 years, is set to become a state of the art eco-friendly nursery with a new Sure Start centre.

A turf - cutting ceremony will be attended next Tuesday (2 March) by councillors as well as managers and founders of Fiveways play centre. The new building, which will see a Sure Start centre opened that will cover the Preston Park area, is expected to open in September.

Before I went into politics I worked at the Daycare Trust, the national childcare campaign, and I campaigned hard for a Sure Start children's centre in every community. To see this vision become a reality is what politics is all about. Labour has delivered on the ground for families and children and that's why I'm standing to be a Labour MP.

But I'm concerned that the city’s Sure Start centres will come under threat if the Conservatives get into government.

The Conservatives want to cut £200m from the budget- that means one in five children's centres, just like the one in Fiveways, would have to close its doors.

“Families need to take a close look at the Conservative-led council's budget, to be published this Thursday. There are suggestions they want to knock £600,000 off the Sure Start programme in Brighton and Hove, despite an increase in government funding to £1.1m. Families need to ask where the extra money is going and how long children and families will be able to enjoy these facilities.

Tags: Childcare, nursery, sure start

Posted on February 24, 2010 in Childcare, Education, Tory Cuts.