Nick has given his full support to a new campaign championing Sure Start Children’s Centres. 

The ‘Shout out for a Sure Start’ campaign was launched with Government backing this week by the charity 4Children to celebrate and promote the value that Sure Start brings to communities, families and children under 5.

Nick says: ‘I recently visited Brookhill Sure Start Children’s Centre in Woolwich to witness first-hand the services on offer and the support on hand to parents and their young families. Parents tell me all the time how much they value their local Sure Start centres and can’t imagine what it would be like if their local children’s centre was not there. 

That’s why I’m backing this campaign to shout out for Sure Start and promote the universal services on offer for families across the borough, like childcare and healthcare.

Before Labour came to power, there were no Children’s Centres and no universal entitlement to free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds. But thanks to Labour investment, there are now 24 across the Greenwich borough, offering services to nearly 25,000 families with children under 5.

The Labour Government will continue to invest in Sure Start because the early years of a child’s life are the most important; investment in our children is an investment in our future. I know that local families will be worried about Tory plans to cut £200m from the Sure Start budget. This is the equivalent of 1 in 5 Children’s Centres having to close their doors.

David Cameron also says the Tories would take Sure Start away from families on modest and middle incomes to focus it on the poorest families instead. I think that this would be a big step backwards. Sure Start makes a difference to hundreds of families across Greenwich and Woolwich. It should be open to all parents and children, not just a few. That’s why I’m going to keep shouting out for Sure Start and urge local parents to back the campaign too’.