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From the archive · Press release
Sure Start in Little Ilford
The Sure Start programme approved for families with young children in Little Ilford.
Originally published 3 August 2001
From the archive. Between 1998 and 2003 this domain carried the constituency website of the Member of Parliament for East Ham. This page keeps one of its items as a historical record, with the original date restored. East Ham Ledger, which publishes the site today, is an independent magazine and has no link to any MP, party or Parliament; contact details and the names of private individuals have been removed, and lost pictures have been replaced with credited photographs of the places concerned.
Pictured today: Photo: David Anstiss / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, today welcomed the Government’s approval of the Sure Start programme in Little Ilford, Newham. A Government grant of £1.7 million over the next three years has been awarded to the local community partnership scheme. The programme aims to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of pre-school children.
Over 1000 local children under the age of four are destined to benefit from Sure Start. It hopes to improve the health and well-being of families and children before and from birth, so children are ready to flourish when they go to school. Disadvantaged children in particular are to be targeted by the scheme, in order to tackle child poverty and social exclusion. The programme will involve schools, churches and other community organisations in the Little Ilford area.
Stephen Timms was delighted with the scheme, saying,
"The Sure Start programme in Little Ilford promises to help our pre-school children in a way that will benefit them both now and in later life. It will be a valuable resource for Newham’s parents and children."
The Little Ilford scheme is part of a national initiative undertaken by the Government, in partnership with local communities. The Government hopes to establish at least 500 similar programmes nation wide by 2004. It is hoped that Sure Start will contribute towards the Government’s aims of improving educational standards, and tackling poverty.
Sure Start children’s centres have since become family hubs in many areas: what family hubs offer.
