15-06-2002
Work due to start on Mountmellick childcare centre
Plans have been approved and work is due to commence shortly on the Mountmellick community childcare facility at the Mountmellick Development Association (MDA) centre.
Seventy children aged from six weeks to eleven years will be catered for within months, thanks to assistance from the MDA and funding totalling €1.4 million from the National Development Plan (NDP). Twelve professional childcare workers and an administrator will be employed and the centre will also provide childcare training.
Ms Mary Dolan, programme manager MDA said the venture would be one of five employer demonstration projects in the country.
"This is one of the few rural based childcare projects in the country. It will be developed to the highest practices and standards in childcare and will be available to everybody in the community. This is very significant for Laois as it is a model for how communities and employers can work together in the creation of good quality childcare," she said.
Working with the Midland Health Board the centre will also provide a training facility for professional childcare workers, with places allocated to staff in the hospital and to local people wanting to train in this area.
This project is a partnership between the Midland Health Board and the Mountmellick Development Association (MDA). It was set up to provide training for people trying to return to work and to rejuvenate the town following devastating job losses and a subsequent slump in the 1980s.
Staff at St Vincent's Hospital. Mountmellick, found they had problems accessing professional childcare in the area, a problem also recognised by the MDA.
"We started out with a much smaller proposal but as time went on and the possibility of being a pilot Employer Demonstration Project surfaced, we expanded our plans. This centre would not be possible without the support from the MDA and the National Development Plan. The MDA provided us with a site. The fact that we owned the site and had local expertise in project promotion was vital. We are delighted with the NDP funding, it makes this important service become a reality," Mary outlined.
The funding is part of more than €436 million assigned by the government under the NDP's Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme to Promote better childcare, which the NDP identifies as essential to promoting equality.
To find out more about the MDA click here
Women's Group
Mountmellick women's group have just completed a four week art class which was very successful in that all the ladies have their pictures framed and hanging in a special place in their homes. Many thanks goes to Mary Delaney their art teacher.
Also the ladies have just completed the women's mini marathon in Dublin on June 3 last, all for the Special Olympic 2003 when Mountmellick are host town to Peru. Well done ladies.
