$1.27 million for families in Northern Sydney
The Rees Government is delivering new services for families with young children in Sydney's north, Community Services Minister Linda Burney announced today when she presented a cheque for $1.27 million to Deirdre Cheers, Executive Director of Centacare Broken Bay on behalf of the initiatives.
"Northern Sydney and Ryde will benefit from a range of new services thanks to this funding from the Families NSW program," Ms Burney said.
"We are delivering on our promises to help young families with children under five including a family worker, an early literacy project and a community hub.
"The Family Worker service offers parents with friendly assistance and advice when they need a little bit of extra support.
"The position helps build on the strengths of the local community and will create support groups for parents to share their experiences with other mums and dads," she said.
Key funding initiatives include:
- $370 000 for the Ryde Community Hub Project, auspiced by Good Beginnings over 3 years
- $760 000 for a Northern Sydney Family Worker Project, auspiced by Centacare over 3 years
- $140 000 one off funding for the Northern Sydney Early Literacy Project, auspiced by SDN.
Deirdre Cheers welcomed the funding for areas where there are many families starting out with young children.
"The Early Literacy Project will support the development of early literacy and numeracy in young children by teaching parents to speak, sing and read to their children from a very early age. This work is incredibly important in making sure kids are prepared when they start school," said Ms Cheers.
"The Ryde Community Hub will provide a ‘one-stop-shop' for parents to find services and activities for children in the Ryde area. It will assist parents with social networks, parenting skills, information and links to useful services they may need," she said.
Families NSW is the Government's strategy to help parents give their children a good start in life. Five government agencies participate in the program: Department of Community Services; NSW Health; Education and Training; Housing and Ageing, Disability and Home Care as well as local communities, non-government organisations and local government.
