A CELEBRATION event was held at Whiterock Children's Centre on Wednesday to mark 35 years of the centre and ten years of Upper Springfield/Whiterock Family Support Hub.
Staff, funders, trustees, board members, as well as service users gathered to reflect and share their experience of the Centre.
Opened in 1988, the centre was set up to support childcare for students attending the Rupert Stanley College on the Whiterock Road.
Since then the Centre has grown, offering a variety of childcare services, family-support services, co-ordination of the local family support hub, a range of services to BME families who have made West Belfast their home and a number of outreach programmes in some schools.
Deirdre Walsh, Centre Director, said: "We started off 35 years ago with one room in the old college building offering childcare places to mothers who wanted to return to education. In 2006, we refurbished the current building.
"We have grown so much over the years with our range of programmes. We are very proud, particularly of our annual Christmas appeal which last year helped 690 individuals. We also run a clothing bank and food bank.
"None of our work would be possible without our dedicated team of staff, funders and most importantly, our children and families who avail of our services."
The Upper Springfield/Whiterock Family Support Hub is also celebrating ten years of providing early intervention family support services to vulnerable families and children – the first of its kind established in Belfast.
The Family Support Hub is a multi-agency network of statutory, community and voluntary organisations that either provide early intervention services or work with families who need early intervention services.
Sharon Nelson, Co-ordinator of the Hub, explained: "Our journey began thanks to the forward thinking of Deirdre and the team at Whiterock Children's Centre.
"We have managed to help 2,457 families over the last ten years. Our feedback is clear – the Family Support Hub works.
"Our hub helps vulnerable families when they need help the most. It has helped us strengthen families and the entire community.
"The hub has evolved over the years to meet additional complex needs of families. From the Covid pandemic to the current cost of living crisis, breakdown of relationships, complex family needs, extended school absences have all led to a greater demand for tailored services.
"I am incredibly grateful to everyone involved in the hub for their support over the last ten years and I am confident of many more years of success."
