SAVE HESSLE CHILDREN’S CENTRE

Don’t take away a lifeline from local families

To: East Riding of Yorkshire Council

We, the undersigned, call on East Riding of Yorkshire Council to reconsider its decision to close Hessle Children’s Centre at The Hourne and relocate its services to alternative community venues.

Hessle Children’s Centre is not simply a building. It is a vital community resource and a lifeline for new mothers, parents, babies and young children across Hessle and the surrounding area.

For many families, the centre is so much more than somewhere to attend a weekly group. It is somewhere to find friendship, support, reassurance and a sense of belonging during what can be an incredibly challenging and isolating time in their lives.

Parents have shared how they have attended the centre from the very first days of their children’s lives, returning week after week and building relationships with staff and other families. First-time mothers new to the area have found friendship and confidence. Parents struggling with breastfeeding have received invaluable support. Children have grown up in a familiar, safe and welcoming environment.

These are not replaceable benefits.

We strongly challenge the suggestion that moving services into community venues such as libraries and schools will provide an equivalent service.

A library is not a purpose-built children’s centre. It does not automatically provide the privacy, facilities, environment or resources required to deliver sensitive and essential services such as breastfeeding support, infant feeding advice and early-years activities.

Parents should not have to feel uncomfortable, exposed or unable to access support because suitable facilities are no longer available.

We are also deeply concerned about the consultation process. Parents who regularly use the centre have reported expressing opposition to the proposed relocation through feedback surveys. Many are now questioning how their views have been interpreted and how a decision described as having a positive consultation outcome has been reached.

Consultation should mean listening to the people who use these services, understanding their concerns and taking their experiences seriously. It should not simply be a process of gathering feedback before proceeding with a decision regardless.

The financial cost of maintaining a building must be considered alongside the enormous social value of the services delivered within it. Supporting parents, reducing isolation, promoting healthy early development and providing early intervention are investments in families and children’s futures.

Once a familiar and trusted community resource is lost, rebuilding that environment, those relationships and that sense of security may be incredibly difficult.

We are therefore asking East Riding of Yorkshire Council to:

Reconsider and reverse the decision to close Hessle Children’s Centre at The Hourne.
Keep the centre open as a dedicated, accessible and welcoming place for local families.
Publish the full findings of the consultation, including the feedback received from parents and regular service users.
Explain how parents’ concerns about alternative venues, privacy, breastfeeding facilities, baby changing and accessibility have been considered.
Demonstrate how any proposed replacement provision will deliver an equivalent standard of service, rather than simply relocating individual sessions.
Give local families a genuine opportunity to meet decision-makers, discuss their concerns and have their voices heard before any closure takes place.
Our children deserve the best possible start in life. Parents deserve somewhere they can turn to for support without barriers, embarrassment or isolation.

Please do not take away a service that means so much to so many families.

Hessle Children’s Centre is not an unnecessary expense. It is an investment in our children, our parents and our community.

KEEP HESSLE CHILDREN’S CENTRE OPEN.