Glenn Community Parent Youth Group
Award - £30,000
Belfast Trust Area
The Daycare is based in the Lenadoon area of West Belfast and serves both sides of the community from the Suffolk and Lenadoon estates. The area with a population of over 13,000 is in a highly disadvantaged part of Belfast, that is in the top 10% of most disadvantaged areas identified in the Multiple Deprivation Indices. The Pathway Fund helps supports 50 daycare places that are accessed by over 70 individual children. The funding ensures that an affordable daycare service can be offered to parents who are unlikely to be able to access childcare due to their financial need.
The majority of the children that the setting works with come from families with complex needs. Many of the children supported have additional needs and most are referred from other local services such as the Family Hub, Health and Social Care Professionals, the Housing Executive or other Community Associations.
The project demonstrates improved opportunities for children at risk at harm through support for physical, emotional, social, health needs and home learning environments. A critical part of the settings approach to supporting their children is by offering a holistic service that works with the whole family. Although Daycare staff in the setting concentrate on offering a positive learning environment for the children the setting also ensures that there is support for parents as well. Parents are enrolled on the parenting and “Connecting with Your family” courses that are designed to enhance their parenting skills and techniques. The setting also facilitates home visits and parent workshops that contributes towards improving outcomes for children.
The excellent work of Glen Parent Daycare has been recognised recently when their setting won Workforce Services Employer of the Year Award and Belfast Media Group Best of The West Award. A student in Glen Parent Daycare also won workforce Student of the Year.
