A parent and toddler group in east Colchester has been saved from closure.
Lynn Hewes and Wendy Hodgson have been running the parent and toddler group at Sir Charles Lucas Arts College for about five years on a voluntary basis.
But funding was desperately needed if the group was to continue.
Saved: Lynn Hewes, leader of the parent and toddler group at Sir Charles Lucas with Wendy Hodgson and children Niamh Bennit and Luke Brundell Picture: Steve Argent
Sure Start Colchester has now stepped in with a £5,000 grant to keep the group going for another year.
The cash handout means the group will be able to buy new play equipment, books and pay those who run the scheme.
The group has about 20 regular families who come along to the sessions three times a week.
A spokeswoman for Sure Start said: "We've been working really hard with them on this. I think it would have been in jeopardy if it had not got this funding and it would have been a great loss had it floundered.
"The group is as important for parents, who get a chance to meet up, as it is for the children. Basically it is a social event as well as a play group."
The group is based at Sir Charles Lucas Sports Centre where it has its own designated room.
The children who attend the group are aged between the newborns and children aged up to three-and-a-half years old.
Published Tuesday, April 29, 2003
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