12:10am Sunday 7th September 2008
By Lucy Cramer
£1.3million is being spent on building or refurbishing children’s centres.
Thurrock Council plans to spend the money on its children centres, which provide a range of services for children up to the age of five and their families.
Services include health care and education for children and employment help for parents.
Centres in Horndon-on-the-Hill, Blackshots and Chafford Hundred will be improved and a new facility built in Grays town centre, between now and 2011.
In addition, the Riverlane centre, in Purfleet, will be designated a children’s centre in its own right.
The project is the final phase of a larger scheme to improve children’s centres in Thurrock.
During the first phase, centres were built in Aveley, South Ockendon, Tilbury and West Thurrock.
New centres, due to open soon, were built in Stanford-le-Hope, Corringham, Chad-well St Mary, East Tilbury, South Stifford and Grays Riverside as part of the second phase of the project.
Sue MacPherson, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This is great news for Thurrock and our families.
“Children’s centres are successful and have already proved their worth.
“The completion of this project should ensure every community within Thurrock has access to children’s centre services.
“Each area is different and therefore each centre is different, too.”
The centres will also be used as bases from which council staff and health workers will make home visits to children in the borough.
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