John Battle Opens New Sure Start Bramley Shop

John Battle opened a new shop with a difference this weekend - the Sure Start Bramley shop in Bramley Shopping Centre.

The MP joined local parents and children and staff of Sure Start Bramley to receive the keys to the new shop from the manager of the shopping centre. "This is a really good, imaginative new opportunity for Bramley families to get involved and make the most of our local Sure Start, and I know this shop is going to make a big difference for a lot of our kids and their parents - and I said so in Parliament yesterday," he said. "I congratulate Sure Start Bramley and Bramley Shopping Centre."

Sure Start is a Government-funded project that works with local communities, charities and the Council to give pre-school children a good start in life. The shop will give local families a new and very easy way to get in touch with Sure Start Bramley and see what's on offer for their kids - Sure Start provide childcare, advice, and support for families with children under four - including all kinds of help from nursery places to stopping smoking.

The new shop will open as an advice and drop in centre in January. Early in the New Year there are plans to use the shop as a base for a new mobile early years library, to run alongside the existing toy library and safety equipment project provided by Bramley Family Support Service. "Over 2004 we hope to add much more - housing advice, a baby clinic, teenage health advice, diet and nutrition and breastfeeding support, debt and benefit support - links to credit unions and Jobcentre Plus, training and education, personal and family support, the Sure Start counselling project and links to Homestart," said Kathy Shaw, Programme Manager.

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