PARENTS and staff at King’s Rise Children’s Centre in Chippenham are thrilled after it was announced the centre would remain open.

Charity the RISE Trust, which manages the centre, will now deliver all children’s services in the north of the county, following a consultation by Wiltshire Council, designed to improve life for young children and their families.

The King’s Rise centre in Pewsham was only added to the tender documentation at the last moment in December, following a fierce campaign by parents, and had been under threat of closure, as well as 13 other centres in Wiltshire.

“I’m delighted for the families of Chippenham, not just Pewsham, that the centre will remain open,” said Elaine Stewart, manager at the children’s centre.

“I think it was the support of the community that helped keep it open. The building is needed, well-used and it would have been a real loss had we not been able to retain it.

“Children’s services are a vital service. At the moment there are so many cutbacks going on parents need some support where they can.

“They walk in and they might be at their wits’ end but they have a drink and a chat and sometimes that’s all it takes.

“That sounds quite a low level thing but it has a major impact.”

The centre offers a number of free services, including parenting courses, health checks and a freedom programme for parents who have experienced domestic abuse.

Open Monday-Friday 8.30am-4pm, more than 100 families use the centre in Lodge Road every week, as well as the other two RISE Trust centres, Spring Rise and The Rise.

Spurgeons will deliver children’s centre services in the east, west and south of Wiltshire, with the initiative beginning on July 1 from 17 dedicated children’s centre buildings.

Pauline Monaghan OBE, chief executive officer of the RISE Trust said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have won the contract for north Wiltshire because it means we can carry on running our three centres in Chippenham.

“The support we had to keep King’s Rise Children’s Centre open was amazing and thanks to the efforts of local people it will be staying open. The RISE Trust is looking forward to taking its services out to the other towns and villages in north Wiltshire.

“We are totally committed to giving each of the new areas we will be serving from July 1 the kinds of services the people of Chippenham have been receiving for the past eight years."

“We are looking forward to getting to know our new children and families and we will be delighted to welcome them at all of our sessions and events very soon.”