Flexible Childcare Services Scotland is working with CentreStage to create a range of new childcare solutions within the CentreStage Village in Kilmarnock.
The plan includes the creation of a 56 capacity early learning and childcare facility which will be delivered using FCSS’s existing flexible childcare model.
This model means that families can book childcare by the hour and use their 1140 hours flexibly which will helping parents to be more efficient with their funded hours, saving them potentially hundreds of pounds each month.
FCSS will also create 40 school-age childcare places for before, after school and during the school holidays.
By combining these two services, parents will be able to secure childcare when they need it, helping them to find and continue in meaningful employment, education or training.
Susan McGhee, Chief Executive at FCSS said:
“We are delighted to be working alongside CentreStage on this fantastic project. By offering almost 100 childcare places in an area of multiple deprivation we will be able to help families to find and stay in meaningful employment, education and training, further distancing them from short and long-term poverty. The initiatives already being delivered by CentreStage and their existing partners will provide even greater support for families, helping to improve their physical and mental wellbeing and giving them a greater chance of achieving positive outcomes for themselves and the whole family.”
In addition to these new childcare services FCSS will provide wraparound support services to reduce pressure on families and provide a holistic, nurturing, whole family service.
The charity will create a children’s clothing exchange, a toy lending library and a number of other initiatives identified by service users which could include paediatric first aid training, parenting classes and repair, reuse and recycle schemes.
Children, young people, and families attending these services will have access to the wide range of activities and events that take place within the Centrestage Village. These include dance, drama, music, singing sessions, fitness and sports activities.
As well as providing beneficial services to children and families in Kilmarnock, the new partnership will also provide an estimated 25 jobs and 4 modern apprenticeship placements.
Fiona McKenzie, CentreStrage Founder said:
“Many of the families we aim to support are experiencing multiple barriers preventing them from living happy, purposeful lives within their community. One in three children in the area are classed as living in extreme poverty and throughout COVID, they have been even more negatively impacted.
“This project FCSS will make childcare and wrap around activities more accessible and affordable for low-income families. Many of the families who will use the service are from the priority family groups most at risk from living in poverty including lone parent families, families which include a disabled adult or child, minority ethnic families and families where the mother is under 25 years of age.”
