We are delighted to have been able to source funding and agree a plan to save the vital care services provided by Direct Childcare across Inverness. We are now working to create a long term sustainability plan for the services and look forward to consulting with our colleagues, children, families and partner agencies on this.
The care services provided by Direct Childcare in the Highland region are very similar to those provided by our Flexible Childcare Service in Aberdeenshire and we believe that by working collaboratively we can spread our flexible childcare model across more areas making truly accessible services available to more children, families and communities.
See the Press and Journal article for more detail, you can also find out more about the organisations and services at:
The childcare sector is currently facing a very challenging time with restricted funding, changes in funding administration, expanding funded hours and workforce capacity limitations, sadly services that are highly specialised such as the care provided by Direct Childcare are often the first to fall in times of challenge. This is not because they are not needed but because the specialised services they provide often cost more to deliver and finding unrestricted funds to support ongoing delivery is very difficult. The package we have put together has secured funding to allow sufficient time to create a sustainable, affordable and accessible plan for the long term whilst maintaining the high standards delivered by the Direct Childcare team.
We are in discussions with Highland Council, who have been a long term funder of the service, and who are supportive of our plans and are beginning to have conversations with other funders and relevant stakeholders.
