Cuts to children’s centres mean lifelines are disappearing. Ask Alka | Frances Ryan

The mother is working on a national campaign to save Sure Start centres. For this government it seems even the wellbeing of toddlers is expendable

In her front room in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, as her toddler has an afternoon nap, Alka is grabbing a few minutes to herself, like any ordinary mum. But with only her laptop and phone, the 43-year-old is taking on her local council – and with it, starting a domino effect that could challenge one of the cruellest cuts now taking effect throughout the country.

The story begins two years ago when Alka’s son was two weeks old. It was a hard time in many ways: she had moved to a new area after her mum died of cancer, and she had a new baby to care for. The local children’s centre was, in her words, “a lifeline”: a place to meet others mums, attend parenting classes and talk to health visitors. Her son could play in the creche while she had counselling for postnatal depression and grief in the room next door. Time at “messy play” – involving trays of coloured spaghetti and flour – allowed him to be assessed for speech problems with no fuss. He then attended a group called Little Talkers at the centre to help with his speech development.

Since 2010, funding for children’s centres in England has been halved from £1.2bn to £0.6bn

Related: More than 500 children's centres have closed in England since 2010

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from Children | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2CSFHMA