- 16/04/2014
- Posted by: Mike Hedges MS
- Categories: Latest News, Press Releases
News that children living in Wales’ most disadvantaged communities are due to get 10,000 free books has been warmly welcomed by local Swansea AM Mike Hedges.
The announcement, which was made earlier this week by Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty Vaughan Gething, means that children living in Flying Start areas will benefit from free books to help continued learning and development at home. Each book bag will contain a bilingual and an English language book, a set of crayons and a scribble pad.
The Welsh Government’s innovative Flying Start programme aims to make a decisive difference to the lives of children under the age of four and their families in the most deprived communities. It offers parents free quality childcare for 2-3 year olds, parenting support, an enhanced health visitor service and help for early language development.
Welcoming the announcement, Labour AM for Swansea East Mike Hedges said:
“With around 1,500 children already benefiting from Flying Start throughout Swansea, this announcement on funding for extra books will further help to give our young learners the best start in life, which is what every parent wants.
“From visiting local school and from speaking to local parents, I’ve already seen first-hand the positive impact Flying Start is having in our Swansea communities, which is why I’m equally pleased that the Welsh Government has promised to expand the programme in our City by 2016 to help even more children get that “flying start” in life they deserve.”
Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty Vaughan Gething said:
“By 2016 we want to see 36,000 children, that’s one in four of all children in Wales below the age of four, benefiting from Flying Start. I have personally been to a number of Flying Start settings across the country where parents have told me that they have seen real improvements in their children’s language, social and emotional skills. Our aim is for children, no matter where they are born, to have the same start and opportunities in life as others.”
