Lottery grants awarded to NI childcare schemes

More than £230,000 in lottery grants have been awarded to three childcare facilities in Northern Ireland.

Under The New Opportunities Fund, grants totalling £232,120 have been awarded to three innovative schemes under the Building Quality Childcare programme to create vital outdoor play areas where none existed before, construct new buildings and equipment and to pay for the refurbishment of existing premises.

Childcare projects in Drumquin, Omagh and Belfast have secured funding in this latest round of awards which were developed in conjunction with Childcare Partnerships to enable children to access good quality childcare provision.

Breidge Gadd, the New Opportunities Fund’s Director in Northern Ireland, said: “These grants are paving the way for the creation of new childcare places by investing in much needed buildings and play facilities. The Building Quality Childcare programme is enabling communities to make a real difference to the lives of parents and children across Northern Ireland.”

Vital childcare for children in a south Belfast estate will be extended thanks to a lottery grant of £98,120. Taughmonagh Community Forum Limited will use the grant to extend its premises at Taughmonagh Community Crèche to provide even more family support and childcare for parents in the estate.

Families living in a rural area of County Tyrone will also benefit from a lottery boost to improve childcare facilities. Loughmacrory Community Development Association secured a grant of £114,000 for a new building and to refurbish existing premises.

Sugar and Spice Playgroup in Drumquin, Co Tyrone was also awarded a grant of £20,000 to create an outdoor play area for children.

(MB)