Newtownstewart early years delighted that funding won’t be cut

FUNDING cuts that were due to come into effect later this month and which would have impacted on a number of youth services and early years programmes, will now not be going ahead.

Northern Ireland’s Department of Education announced a U-turn on the cuts on Thursday, which would have affected thousands of people.

In a statement, the Permanent Secretary for Department for Education Dr Mark Browne said that given the scale and impact of the cuts he believed they were “a decision that should be taken by a minister, not a permanent secretary.”

Some other organisations would have had to close.

The programmes previously deemed to be affected included the Pathway Fund, Sure Start, Bright Start and Toybox.

Had the cuts gone ahead, the education and community sectors from across the North would themselves have been forced to make massive spending cuts to remain open, including mass redundancies.

One of the groups that would have been affected is Care Bears in Newtownstewart, which is the only playgroup in the village. They used the Pathway Fund to pay staffing costs.

Leader of the group Stephanie McColgan told the Chronicle she was delighted that funding was secured for one more year.

She said, “We’re absolutely delighted that the funding wasn’t cut. We received over £21,000 from the Pathway Fund which we used to pay for staffing costs. If that money wasn’t there we would’ve been forced to make redundancies.

“We are the only play school in Newtownstewart and we make sure are children are prepared for their time in school. Losing the amount of staff we would’ve had to due to funding cuts would’ve had a massive knock-on effect.”

Sinn Fein councillor for the Derg DEA Caroline Devine said that she was delighted that the cuts had been reversed and that it was a ‘great relief’ for families.

Cllr Devine said, “I’m delighted that the proposed cuts to early years programmes such as the Pathway funding and Surestart are not going ahead. These cuts would have meant a significant loss of funding to providers like Carebears Community Preschool so it will be a great relief for families and workers, who were facing the potential of job losses.

“These programmes provide vital services in disadvantaged areas that better the lives of communities, families, and our most vulnerable children.

“I want to pay tribute to the community providers who recently took to the streets to make a stand against these cuts.”