Kids' centre saved
6:05am Wednesday 5th September 2007
HUNDREDS of children on an Oxford estate will be kept off the streets because a youth facility has been saved.
The Dovecote Centre, in Nightingale Avenue, Greater Leys, caters for scores of under-12s through an after-school club and a summer playscheme.
A funding shortfall had left organiser Carol Richards warning the centre was likely to shut in March next year - leaving children to fend for themselves, or roam the streets.
But Oxford City Council came to the rescue at a meeting on Monday and granted £20,000 in funding that will keep the centre going to at least autumn 2008.
Mrs Richards, children and family services co-ordinator at Dovecote Voluntary Parents' Committee, which runs the activities, said it was fabulous news.
She said: "Come January I was going to start looking for another job for myself and start closing it down - now we can come back and start full of optimism.
"It is going to lift the morale of all of my staff. They will be more optimistic about being able to stay."
The grant is the second boost to parents and children in the area in less than a month.
Leys Kiddie Club, which is also based at the centre, received a £2,500 grant from the Blackbird Leys Parish Council at the start of August.
The money will go towards redeveloping a garden area for children up to the age of five.
Meanwhile, the £20,000 will be spent on running costs for the after school club and summer playscheme, which caters for children aged from four to 12.
Mrs Richards said up to 65 children used the summer playscheme each week, with up to 24 more joining the school clubs. Recent activities have included trips to Legoland Windsor, swimming and ice skating.
The Leys Kiddie Club is even more popular with another 200 to 300 toddlers attending each month.
Mother-of-two Alice McNicolls, from Greater Leys, said her eldest child would now be able to join in the summer playscheme next year.
Ms McNicolls said: "There are lots of different activities, educational and fun, and they provide healthy snacks."
The £20,000 grant was taken from the council's performance reward grant, after a motion from Labour councillor Antonia Bance won support.
Ms Bance said: "This year the grants process was really tight and the council was unable to fund projects it ought to have funded.
"We have been looking to get groups stable funding - in particular the Dovecote voluntary parents committee - which is a vital service."