Trinity Drop-in Creche
Posted on Tue 25 October 2011
Trinity Crèche has been operating in Ellesmere Port for about 25 years and now offers a drop-in crèche facility for children up to 4 years old, 5 mornings per week. Originally, it was set up as a shoppers’ crèche, staffed by volunteers, before being developed by the NCH with three paid workers and opening it up to a wider group of parents and carers. The Fair Share grant covers the salaries of three members of the fully-trained staff.
Ellesmere Port is one of the most economically deprived communities in Cheshire with high levels of unemployment and family stress. The crèche is right in the middle of the town, at the Trinity Methodist Church, making it highly visible and accessible and the group firmly believes that it does some real good in the community.
The team comprises four paid members of staff working together in a supportive and constructive way for the benefit of the children. They keep up to date with training and attended a Total Communications course, which included sign language, which they use during rhyme time and when talking about colours, animals and manners.
The organisation has a constitution, a management committee, which includes two very capable and helpful parents and the necessary policies and procedures in place. When the children leave the crèche to go on to school, new parents are recruited onto the management committee.
The crèche meets all four of the FST priorities for the area
- Increasing community capacity – a service offered to the community
- Widen participation in learning - students of child care at West Cheshire College, some of whom are young and disabled, are offered work placements. Parents, who are often vulnerable, can attend classes at the college, so they gain employment skills and their levels of well-being and self-esteem are raised
- Addressing the needs of children and families – the direct beneficiaries of the service include children and young parents
- Improving services addressing the needs of older people - grandparents, who are carers while the parents are at work, are offered respite and the opportunity to take up other activities
It enables parents to access training, attend job interviews, medical appointments and have some respite from caring for their children. It is affordable for those who can’t afford to send their children to private day care. There are 15 places with a specified proportion for the under 2s.
The children learn social skills through playing in a safe, warm and friendly environment. They also learn about other cultures from children whose first language is not English. More recently, funding was gained from the council to develop part of the grounds of the church outside the crèche into an attractive and safe play area where the children sowed seeds and planted flowers to attract new families to the crèche. Funding was gained to provide waterproof capes so the children could be warm and dry in colder weather.
Testimonials from parents:
“My son has come on in leaps and bounds since attending the crèche, at his two-year check, with Health Visitors, they couldn’t believe how well he spoke and was actually talking in sentences rather than single words… With attending the crèche my son’s skills and knowledge are really good for his age and I feel that all the activities which have taken place have really helped get him ready for full-time school”
“…I decided it was time to encourage my son to interact with other adults and children. For the first four weeks, twice a week, he cried when I handed him over and although this was upsetting for me, I know that he was in safe, experienced hands who were only a phone call away if I needed reassurance…After four weeks, we turned a massive corner and my son ran into crèche smiling without a backwards glance! He is now confident, chatty and more relaxed with anyone he meets and I feel this is down to his time at crèche.”
“I feel very lucky and happy to have found a crèche where I feel safe and happy knowing that my daughter is happy, her drawings and wide smiles at the end of the morning show that. I feel comfortable asking advice from staff, any worries about my daughter, they are always so helpful and never too busy to listen….The partnership between parent and teachers is fantastic and I’m always at ease talking to them.”
As the Fair Share Trust grant is coming to an end, the crèche management committee are looking for additional funding to keep going. They will probably need to increase the charges, which they are reluctant to do, and cannot accept childcare vouchers without greatly increasing the number of hours they are open. They expect continued support from the church where they are based. There is a programme of community fundraising activities being put together and they are identifying appropriate grant-making bodies to which to apply. With the help of the local CVS, Ellesmere Port and Neston Association for Voluntary and Community Organisations, they are investigating the possibility of becoming a separate charitable company, and are learning about the roles and responsibilities of trustees.
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