Shoebury Children's Centre is the first centre run entirely by the Pre-school Learning Alliance, which is an educational charity with over forty years experience of childcare provision and training. It works in partnership with Southend Borough Council, and has funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) Surestart Children's Centre Funding; as well as initially having European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), and European Social funding (ESF).

The centre has been in Shoebury for three years now, and to choose just one area that it has made an impact on, or one family it has made a difference to, would be impossible, because everyday something good and exciting happens there.

One of the first services set up was the full day care nursery. It has made a big difference to the area because it can offer the whole day for all to access, whether that is for work purposes, or to access training; there is real partnership working with parents and carers, and when they leave, they are safe in the knowledge that their children are accessing good quality play, in a safe learning environment; and are being cared for by well trained and competent staff. This is therefore one barrier removed for some families, and as training is also one of the other activities running from the centre, it has proved invaluable to be able to offer crèches alongside it, and within the same building!

	One father told us this in his evaluation: “ The nursery has been a blessing for us whilst attending the course. Having somebody looking after Nieve takes the stress of worrying about getting a babysitter, which allows us as parents to focus 100% on the course. Nieve seems very happy and content in her surroundings…………”

One single mother of two children told us that she had applied to a local university to join their Registered Nurse course but although she had looked into childcare before her interview, she knew it was crucial, but felt it would also be difficult as her eldest son aged 12 has Muscular Dystrophy and Autism. Shoebury Children's Centre was recommended to her and she went in and met the Supervisor. She said “Jackie instantly wanted to help me. She set up the After school club and wanted to know all about Jack's personality and needs, to make sure Jack and I were both happy. Without Jackie and the Shoebury Children's Centre I wouldn't be at University and feeling positive about my future!”

The centre has realised too that in order to be truly responsive to local needs, it has to keep asking what they are, and monitor and evaluate what it is offering, to ensure that it still meets those needs. Service users are often asked to take a few minutes to let the centre know if it is providing what is needed, and asked to indicate what else may need to be added. It empowers the community by including their voices into the planning and running of the centre, which is part of their community.

A staff member running a come and play session at the centre has recently started a level 4 qualification at the local college. As her college day is the same day, it's meant that she is now unavailable to continue running the sessions. The group were consulted in advance, as to what would happen when the course started. They were so keen to keep going, that two of the mums have become volunteers for the group, they are enthusiastic and committed to running the group themselves which is fabulous, and have support on hand from centre staff when necessary.

One of the Centre's unwritten, but often said slogans, is “We don't have problems, just opportunities for solutions”. This helps to create the positive ethos and climate of the centre. The centre is always looking for ways to improve, and therefore when IIC saw an opportunity to help, we asked the centre what they wanted. Lynda Baksh, Centre Manager, explains: “We intend to create a more welcoming entrance with comfortable seating for everyone to meet and seek information from the carousels, leaflet racks and notice boards; as well as staff members sited in the reception area. As if that isn't enough, we will also use another more secluded area which is still accessible by everyone and will be full of information about training, work and benefits, and will house warm phones and touch screen kiosks. This space will also provide a cosy seating area which will enable more private conversations to happen, and perhaps print outs from laptops if necessary. It's definitely going to make a huge difference to local families, who now may need to travel on buses with their children, bags and buggies, to a couple of different sites in the borough to access this type of information; and we will be able to offer it under the one local roof!”

This is an exciting time for South Essex and the building work is now well underway. The Centre would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone, to visit them anytime and see the good work in action for themselves!