Save Our Sure Start Centres

A coalition of parents from across  Coventry are campaigning to Save Our Children's Centres. We ask that the Council expands not cut the current services provided by Sure Start Children's Centres. This includes day care provision for the under 5's. A review by the Council is looking to save money by either reducing, scrapping or tendering out current services to private, voluntary or independent providers (PVIs) and aims to target resources to the most disadvantage. We urge you to join our campaign for the following reasons:


· The foundational ethos of Sure Start is one of social inclusion, only providing services to the most disadvantaged and taking away day care from working parents promotes social exclusion.

· Segregated nursery care does not help the most disadvantaged – mixed ability settings is proven to benefit ALL children and parents.

· PVIs may provide these services more cheaply (but this is debatable) but are acknowledged by the Councils own review to be of a poorer quality.

· PVIs main cost cutting comes by employing less qualified staff and paying over 70% of them the minimum wage for looking after children.
4 things you can do to help Save Our Children's Centres:

1. Join us this Tuesday July 19th 2011 outside the Council House at 1.30 to protest to Councillors

2. Write to your local councillors and MP using our letter template

3. Send us your stories about your experiences of any of the services at Sure Start Children's Centres

4. Like us on Facebook 'Coventry Save Our Children's Centres'

For more information on the campaign contact Sam Lyle on samlyle2001@hotmail.com


Coventry Against The Cuts fully supports 'Coventry Save Our Children's Centres' and urge as many people as possible to contact Sam and join in the campaign. Maybe you could take a petition sheet and gather some names? Contact Sam on the email address above if you feel you can help in any way possible. Coventry parents and their children did NOT cause the banking crisis so why should they be made to suffer?