Little SERC provides grant-funded childcare to reduce pressures on parents who do not work or are on low incomes, helping them to study and return to work.
The creche forms part of a Family Learning Together Hub that provides high-quality education for parents and their children, intending to break multigenerational cycles of poverty by supporting parents to study to start work and providing good early education for their children.
The creche aims to enhance economic activity in Newcastle and the surrounding County Down coastal corridor – one of the highest levels of economic inactivity in Northern Ireland, where 28% of 16 to 44-year-olds have no qualifications.
The team has formed partnerships with many charities and local agencies to support its families. They have also established initiatives to help families with the cost-of-living crisis, such as a clothes bank and collections for children’s Christmas presents. Every single parent using the creche has stated that they are happy with the care their children receive and that they have seen significant improvements in all areas of their child’s development.
