Yorke Peninsula Mums answer desperate child care needs
Thanks to three passionate country mums, families on the Southern Yorke Peninsula now have access to 120 new child care places each day of the working week.
Prior to Katie Hughes, Anna Phasey and Amy Honner advocating for an increase in child care services, the region offered space for just 14 children to access child care, leaving parents unable to work and local children lacking valuable social development opportunities.
Today (Friday August 30), the women stood alongside Federal Member for Grey Rowan Ramsey at the official opening of Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care, which now offers 80 child care places at Minlaton and 40 at Maitland.
Between the three working mums, there’s a speech pathologist, a social worker and an early years educator, who all struggled through maintaining their careers while raising young families. In early 2020 (before social distancing), they sat around a table and while admittedly “flying blind”, decided to find out just how much the lack of child care services was affecting the Southern Yorke Peninsula.
One hundred and seventy five families responded to a survey and 70 submissions were made from locals facing difficulties finding employees, volunteers and from parents unable to find suitable care for their children.
“We’d been dreaming of this day for four years, but the wider community has been dreaming about it for decades,” Katie said.
“Hopefully the added service means the region can attract doctors with young families, new businesses, and just plant beautiful seeds to make our community even more vibrant.”
Both facilities are owned by Yorke Peninsula Council and operated by Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care. Construction of the new Minlaton Centre and renovations and the reopening of the Maitland Family Centre was made possible through a A $2.25 million Federal Government.
The establishment of the two centre’s, which now employ close to 50 staff members, also earned council the Excellence in Local Economic Development Award at the LG Professionals SA 23rd Annual Leadership Excellence Awards.
An independent cost-benefit analysis has shown that by allowing parents to return to work or increase hours, and helping the region retain young working families, every dollar invested in the project will create $52 of economic value for the region.
For more information on Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care click here.
