Longford CCC welcomes €286,943 in Funding for Early Years Services
Coordinator of Longford County Childcare Committee, Lorraine Farrell, was delighted to confirm this afternoon that funding, to the amount of €286,943 has been secured for County Longford.
This funding is aimed at improving and extending capacity in early years and childcare services and has been allocated through the Department of Children and youth Affairs to one third of Longford services.
Lorraine Farrell states that
“This investment by the state will see extra early year’s places become available within the county along with improving existing services through both building maintenance and the development of outdoor play areas for children. This commitment to early years is vital in Longford where we are experiencing a dearth in available childcare places and is a very welcome investment in the county. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister, Katherine Zappone for her department’s investment in County Longford to date”
The approved 2017 Early Years Capital Funding will be made available to childcare centres, crèches and other Early Years services across Longford under three strands:
- Strand 1: New Places (€199,928– maximum €50k per grant)
- Strand 2: Building improvements and maintenance (€77,015 maximum €20k per grant, Community Services only)
- Strand 3: Natural outdoor play area (€10,000, maximum €5k per grant)
Longford County Childcare Committee works very closely with service providers within the county and are delighted to have been in a position to assist services in applying for this Capital Grant. We will continue to work closely with services to support them in spending and reporting on the grant in line with Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) requirements.
This funding will benefit children, families and providers to implement quality affordable childcare in County Longford. Should any early years providers or indeed parents have any queries on how this funding announcement will affect them please do not hesitate to contact the office on 043 33 42505.
