Story: Lisa Swift | Photos: Erin Blythe
Parents, childcare workers and children took to the streets on December 12th and January 19th, to let the Council know that cuts to Early Years funding is not acceptable.
Burngreave and Fir Vale families were a key part of the protest. Voluntary sector providers Watoto, Fir Vale Pre School and Ellesmere Children’s Centre all depend on Council grants that will be entirely cut. While childcare at Burngreave Children’s Centre is run directly by the Council, the Council plans to privatise this.
January’s demonstation was organised by Sheffield Community Childcare Forum. Speaking on the Town Hall steps to hundreds of protesters, Abtisam Mohammed, representing Fir Vale Pre School, said,
“We were told that the most vulnerable deprived communities would not be affected. By cutting all these Children's Centres and childcare, which are in the most deprived areas in Sheffield, we are targeting the most vulnerable communities.”
“The Childcare Forum will be challenging these cuts legally on 2 grounds: the decision was taken without proper consultation. And no account was taken of the equality duty – many women will be impacted because of these cuts. Many children with special needs, many children from BME backgrounds are going to be specifically affected.”
The Messenger spoke to parents and workers who would be affected by the cuts. Lena Mohammed, worker at Fir Vale Pre School, explained what the cuts might mean for their centre,
“We won't be able to employ enough staff and we'll have to downsize. That would be ridiculous because in our area there's a population increase and we need more childcare. We are a multicultural centre with a multicultural staff.”
Burngreave mum Charlie, who uses Ellesmere Children’s Centre, said,
“I feel like the government is attacking working class women. I want to be able to afford to go to work. They're taking that right away from me.”
Nusrat Begum takes her children to Watoto Pre-School. She said,
“I have to look after three children with disabilities. If it wasn't for Watoto, I wouldn't be able to get anything done at home. I think it would make me ill.”
Watoto manager Sharon Brown explained,
“Early years and childcare services are crucial to helping our children develop their linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional building blocks in readiness for school and life. We at Watoto Pre- School believe that slashing the early years funding so drastically is unwise and will cost the city and the country in the long term.”
Semereab Tesfazghi, a father whose family has used Burngreave Children’s Centre for years expressed his concern,
“We have twins who are 4 years old now. Burngreave Children’s Centre have supported us since before they were born. There are a lot of facilities there, health checks, midwives, my partner has been to a lot of activities and got help with things like breastfeeding. It’s an important part of our community.”
A local mother of two from Firs Hill, who takes her baby to Owler Brook Nursery, said,
“The impact will be women becoming more isolated, staying in, getting depressed. This is the contact you have with the outside world. It's part of the community and you get to know what's going on around you.”
Parents are beginning to see some action as a result of their protests and the 9000 signatures they have gathered on a petition. The Council’s Scrutiny Panel has now referred the matter back to Cabinet and asked them to preserve the current services until the matter is reconsidered.
