Children's centre has helped 10,000 in a year

Visions Children’s Centre in Oakham celebrated its first birthday last week, having welcomed almost 10,000 people through its doors since it was relocated a year ago.

The popular service helps parents and young children in Rutland by providing a wide range of free activities, sessions and services, all tailored to give families the best possible start in life.

The Visions centre was located at Catmose College campus until a year ago when it moved to a new, purpose-built facility right next to Oakham Library.

Since the move was completed in October 2017 Visions has welcomed 9,808 people through its doors, while also supporting an increase in visitor numbers and registrations at Oakham Library.

More than 80 young children, parents, carers and volunteers gathered at Visions on October 1 to celebrate one year since the move.

Speaking at the celebration, Richard Foster, portfolio holder for children and young people at Rutland County Council, said: “It’s fantastic to celebrate this incredible milestone with families who love Visions. The centre is hugely important to those who use it. The staff here support people who are starting or growing their family and need help or support with a particular aspect of parenting. Most importantly, they provide a fun, safe space for children to learn and develop.

“Moving Visions to a more central location at the heart of Oakham was intended to make the service more accessible to parents and carers so it’s hugely satisfying to see that visitor numbers have almost doubled in the space of one short year and that we’ve supported almost 10,000 people.”

Visions provides parents and children with access to support that contributes to children’s emotional resilience and readiness for school and adults’ parenting ability.