A flagship Welsh Government support scheme aimed providing young people with the best possible start in life has been hailed by local Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths.
The Flying Start programme is benefiting people in Wrexham as new figures suggest more children and families are participating in the scheme’s services than ever before.
Last year, 1,121 children benefited from Flying Start in Wrexham, an increase of over 230 on the previous year.
This substantial uptake is mirrored across Wales as last year more than 31,000 children participated in the programme, an increase of more than a third when compared to the previous year’s figure, which stood at just over 25,500.
Flying Start offers eligible parents free quality childcare for children under the age of four, parenting support, an enhanced health visitor service and help with their children’s early language development.
In 2011 the Welsh Labour Government committed to increase the number of children and families benefiting from Flying Start from 18,000 to 36,000 by 2016. This expansion will cover a quarter of all children under the age of four.
Wrexham AM Ms Griffiths commented:
“Every child, no matter what background they come from, deserves the best possible start in life and Flying Start continues to help disadvantaged families look after their children’s health and wellbeing.”
“As one of the Welsh Government’s key manifesto commitments, Flying Start is certainly on track to achieve its target and double the number of children benefiting from the programme by 2016.”
“The latest statistics reveal thousands of children and families in Wrexham have benefited from Flying Start and as the programme continues to develop and move from strength to strength, I trust even more people in the region will ultimately gain from the scheme.”
