30th October 2003
EUROPEAN FUNDED CHILDCARE CENTRE OPENED BY EUROPEAN MINISTER

Linda McAvan MEP was the guest of honour at the official opening of the Goldthorpe Roundabout Childcare Centre on the 18th October 2003. In attendance were a number of notable honoraries celebrating the success of social enterprise in the area, his worshipful the mayor William Newman, MP Jeff Ennis and a number of local councillors along with Janet Bibby the Chief Executive of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust .



This is the second childcare centre to be launched as a community enterprise by Barnsley Dearne Community Partnership, the first being established in the year 2000 in Bolton on Dearne.

The new centre in Goldthorpe aims to provide affordable, high quality, flexible childcare for children aged from 3 months to 3 years and was funded from a variety of sources including those provided through Objective One European Funding. The centre had open days for interested parties on 22nd and 23rd October and will hopefully be open for business some time in November.

Both childcare centres are testament to the impact people can have on their own communities. The Roundabout Childcare centres have been established by dedicated local volunteers from the Barnsley Dearne Community Partnership, with help and support from the Community Economic Regeneration Team (CERT) at Barnsley Development Agency.

Not only do the childcare centres offer affordable childcare which allows residents of the Bolton on Dearne, Goldthorpe and Highgate area to re-enter the workforce but also operates an Intermediate Labour Market programme (ILM). This offers long term unemployed residents an opportunity to benefit from real work experience and training in order to enter the labour market.

Roundabout Dearne Childcare Centre and Goldthorpe Roundabout Childcare Centre are a community enterprises owned and managed by Barnsley Dearne Community Partnership; who are a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. The Coalfields Regeneration Trust and South Yorkshire Key Fund have provided the funding for the new centre in addition to start up monies from the Community Economic Regeneration Team (CERT).

For further information on Roundabout contact Cheryl Cooper on tel 01709 890500 or Lynda Chapman at BDA’s CERT Team on tel: 01226 784 444.

END

www.barnsleydevelopmentagency.co.uk

Press Contact: Sarah Hopwood
Marketing & Communications Assistant
Barnsley Development Agency
Telephone: 01226 640 086
Facsimile: 01226 286 606
Email: shopwood@barnsleydevelopmentagency.co.uk



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