Childcare/education
Sure Start settings
Grants & funding
Inclusion
Latest developments
Network for Sure Start Children's Centre Leaders
16 April 2008
Read about the Network for Sure Start Children's Centre Leaders and what is happening next.
Capital allocations
15 October 2007
Read the press release and find out local authority allocations for Sure Start Children's Centres 2008-2011
Revenue allocations
30 August 2007
Download local authority revenue allocations for Sure Start Children's Centres 2008-2011.
Guidance
Download Sure Start Children's Centres guidance here.
Sure Start Children's Centres pass the million mark
11 April 2007
One million children and their families can now have a better start in life thanks to the government’s Sure Start Children’s Centres. 1,250 centres are now up and running around the country. By 2010 there will be a Sure Start Children’s Centre for every community – 3,500 in total.
The centres are a one-stop shop for young children and parents, providing access to family health care, advice and support for parents, early education and care for youngsters. They also link training and employment services.
Many centres have additional new activities including groups for dads and kids, drop in sessions and baby massage. An increasingly wide range of services are being offered at the centres, including the option of registering new babies.
Beverley Hughes, Minister for Children, Young People and Families, said:
“We have reached a significant milestone in rolling out Sure Start Children’s Centres and the families of one million children can now easily access the fantastic activities and services they are providing. I’d urge everyone to find out if they have a centre nearby and what it can offer their family."
“Before 1997, parents of very young children had little or nothing in the way of support. Now we are seeing all the services parents want being offered in their community and under one roof."
“I want Sure Start Children’s Centres to be as much as part of the local community as the local school or GPs surgery – and for that to happen we want everyone to know what they can offer them and their children.”
