Parents and children welcome the Duchess of Cambridge to Brookhill Children's Centre, Woolwich

WOOLWICH ONLINE:

WOOLWICH - Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge, thrilled children and their parents when she came to Woolwich on Wednesday (March 18) to visit the Brookhill Children’s Centre in Brookhill Road.

HRH, The Duchess of Cambridge chats with parent and staff of the
Brookhill Children's Centre, in Woolwich on Wednesday, March 18, 2015.
(Photo Credit: RBG)

She was there to find out more about the centre’s work to support local families and to hear about the work of the charity Home-Start which runs four of the Royal Borough’s 24 children’s centres.

The Duchess met the Mayor of Royal Greenwich, Cllr Mick Hayes, and the Leader of the Royal Borough, Cllr Denise Hyland. She met local parents and staff at Brookhill and was told about Home-Start by its UK chief executive Rob Parkinson, and centre manager Dawn Brown.

Her Royal Highness then had coffee with families who have been supported by Home-Start and listened to their experiences. She watched a volunteer training session, and visited the centre’s crèche to meet families who are benefiting through the Royal Borough’s ‘Together for Twos’ scheme which provides 15 hours of free early learning per week, for local parents with children aged two years old.

Cllr Hyland said: "We are delighted that The Duchess chose to visit Brookhill to see how it is improving the lives of local families. Children's centres in the royal borough play an important role in raising outcomes for children and reducing the inequalities gap.  Maintaining our network of children’s centres is key to our commitment to ensuring the best possible start in life for all our children. We are pleased to have commissioned Home-Start to run four of our centres, and know that they share our commitment to providing good quality services for local families."

The Brookhill centre is one of 24 in the borough. It works with around 1,000 families, and most have children aged under-five.

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