childrens centre attracting the wrong kind of mothers

[Morph2]

i'm not BU as i'm not too bothered (more disappointed) about the decision but others are very angry. Local surestart (only built last year) ran a group for walking to school age every week. Has been scrapped due to funding issues (ok i understand that its a recession after all).

HV unofficially told my friend the decision was because the session was "attracting the wrong kind of mothers". We've started attending another session run by the council which is abit of a trek away (they have started to charge a £1 a session but its worth it, i drive so i can get there), and when i filled out my new started form i had to tick (for monitoring purposes) if i was in one of the groups they specified, i wasn't so i didn't tick, just thinking maybe if enough people don't tick this session will be stopped too :(

What groups did they specify it was out of bounds to?

Don't believe your friend actually, sorry

Hahaha!

Your friend is on wind up!

Sadly children's centres have target groups they HAVE to reach in order to remain funded and open.
My job use to be to access those hard to reach families and get them into the centre. So I had to show I reached; young parents, single parents, non working families, EASL families, and families at risk of cp.
It's hard but targets are targets and government are pressing us to show evidence that cc are working and reaching those its aimed at

it wasn't out of bounds to anyone the session just stopped.

My friend was told that she was essentially too middle class to use the Children's centre and was made to feel extremely uncomfortable whenever she went there. Hence she stopped (she lives in Plymouth)

I think they mean they are attracting middle class mummies, not fag smoking teenage mums in fake Juicy Couture

Sessions are stopping all over the place due to lack of resources

Unfortunately, that doesn't stop the 'friend of a friend said to the 2nd cousin twice removed' type of rumours.

I can believe it - have heard of this before. Essentially, these groups are targeted at certain disadvantaged groups, but then get invaded by happy middle class mums who don't need the support - ie the wrong sort of mums.

It's a pity they close them down, but if funding is limited, they need to find better ways of targeting support in order to reach those who most need it. The yummy mummy brigade will find their own alternatives.

Our childrens centre was full of middle class mothers for the first few months, they used to drive to sessions from across town to use the services. We had to stop it because cc are there to support the community around it, not the whole towns parents.
We do alot better now but not without alot of hard work and building trusting relationships with community.

how depressing, surely the community is more or less anyone who wants to be involved and maybe middle class 'mummies' have just the same rights - seems really odd to stop some people using the centres, no wonder they're not working

Or they're just subject to the same cuts as everyone else but it makes some people feel superior to put around rumours that it was because they were all too middle class lol.

What I don't understand, is why the 'target mums' aren't using the services? I did a baby massage class at out local ss centre for about £20, it was a bargain and full of mum's who thought the same. Ditto for the music classes they did, and the bf support group where they put on lunch. But where were the mum's the sessions were aimed for?

the childrens centre was built last year (must have cost a fortune, and the toys -well they are out of this world!!), and it is in a 'nice' area so the community around it isn't what would be classed as disadvantaged (although there would be disadvantged people within the area), they previously stopped people driving in from other areas and limited the people attending to the locals. Like i said before i know we're in a recssion, it just seems a shame that having spent all this money on building the place and puttnig loads of toys in it they are now running no sessions at all for over walking age, i wouldn't even mind paying £3 or £4 a session (the place is that nice) and disadvantaged people could attend for free.

Because they don't want to be there or see the benifits of those lovely music classes and baby massage classes. That's why they are a targeted group.
You and me think it's great to be out there with our babies doing lovely stuff that stimulates our babies. The other families don't see the need, they never had it, would rather be at home watching jk and letting kids watch cbeebies.

The centre at I work at attracts many "wrong" families - it only means they're not target families, but they're welcomed and permitted to attend universal services.

We don't stop services due to member types; we stop services if they don't achieve the outcomes the Local Authority demand of us.

Why not go and talk to the cc staff, make suggestions and see what happens.

And I'm sorry they aren't going to get targeted families in with baby massage and music classes, it's the mistake most new cc make. Thats what middle class mummies want, certainly not what the targeted families want or need in their mind.

Worra I don't get you scepticism. Read lisad's posts, she isn't fibbing. Our centre has scrapped many sessions not because of funding cuts in themselves but because they attracted middle class mothers who didn't tick the right boxes. Without target families ultimately there would be no centre. This policy has been tightened up and more sessions cut as a consequence.

I had some experience of this with a very middle class friend who lived on the very edge of a deprived area...she went to all the free classes on baby massage and other things which the centre offered and was eventually told she wasn't welcome (in so many words).

The target mums edwinder are hard to reach because of the very reasons these centres were set up...general lethargy and a lack of confidence will conspie to stop new MOthers from trying things like this out...they are naturally suspicious of government run groups and in way....for good reason.

Some of the poorest parents in this area are VERY difficult as they tend to not bother with playgroups but rely on visiting on another and going to baby clinic for weigh ins...they don't see the need to go and sit in a chilly hall or room where they're "watched over" and advised on how to look after thei baby.

if I knew the answer to why they don't / won't come, my life would be SO much easier! They're hard-to-reach for a reason; primarily the reason being is that they don't understand that stimulation / relationship / socialising is important in their and their children's lives...

I was surprised that when I went to the baby group at cc it was mainly older, middle class mums, despite being on a council estate! I might be classed in the same group, but tbh I genuinely needed the support, I didn't know anyone else with children. At the risk of getting flamed, perhaps other groups just chose not to go or don't need to? An old friend from school had her first at 17 and all her friend's have kids so she didn't bother with baby groups. I wanted to go as none of my friends nearby had any kids yet. I think that was the case with most of the mums I met at group.

havingabath 'Baby massage and music classes'??

Oh I wonder why they appealed to the MC lol.....

Ffs I am really getting pissed off with my phone adding unnecessary apostrophes!!!

lisad I agree that simple get togethers would attract "the right" Mums...and then the other things can be brought in afterwards....as they're so beneficial to both baby and parent.

But again...sometimes these things aren't enough to get them in.....as I said, they can drink coffee in the comfort of their own home with their own friends around them. Why would they want to go to a strange place?