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Sure Start is a national scheme with a local way of doing things. It is designed to give our children the best start in life - but works through the commitment and dedication of those running and taking part in it. The official opening today of Sure Start Millbrook, Redbridge and Maybush, the city's third such scheme, is a positive step in making that goal a reality for local families in the west of Southampton. Pioneered nationally in 1998 Sure Start has brought together the skills and commitment of early education, childcare, health and family support to help young children under four years of age. By investing in the future of our children and providing local communities and families with access to professional advice and services, it is possible to make a difference and provide children with inclusive support at this important stage of their life. Sure Start Millbrook, Redbridge and Maybush have just celebrated its first birthday and it will take another year before it becomes fully operational. Plans are in the pipeline for a new building on surplus land at Newlands School, which will act as a health and family centre with new facilities. So far 200 children have benefited from Sure Start with many more to come on board. The co-ordinating and multi-agency approach of Sure Start means that families with young children will be able to access a wide range of services. For example, Sure Start has helped fund a Family Link Librarian who will develop a children's library and make sure that children have good access to a broad range of books. Also, Sure Start has funded 2 midwife posts that work alongside 4 other midwives in the local community. They will be available 24 hours a day and provide support before, during and after the birth. Other work has seen the development of open house drop-in sessions, funding for health visitors and family support workers, and a new play team has been set up. Again and again the emphasis of the dedicated Sure Start team is support, advice and responding to the needs of the local community. Moreover, this is guaranteed through the involvement of local parents on the Sure Start Millbrook, Redbridge and Maybush management board. Sure Start is about getting money and resources for Millbrook Redbridge and Maybush, but its much more than that. As the story of Sure Start so far in Southampton shows, its is the enthusiasm and hard work of all the people who are part of it that really gives it the 'added value' that is so important to its success. The summit, I believe, succeeded in recognising that many of the issues and possible solutions were political in nature but were not the subject of Party political contests. It also succeeded in communicating to all present the interconnectedness of many of the key problems: efficient freight systems are good for jobs and are not just a nuisance on urban roads: an effective regional airport has considerable implications for the leisure and commercial life of the city: but unless the city, and particularly the inner city, is a liveable area for its residents and local travellers, much of the wider ambitions for the city will not be realised. At the heart of this is an appraisal, shared by the many different interests participating, of what Southampton and the Solent wants to be as a city in 2025, and what, therefore needs to be done in establishing transport that will make it work. Not revolutionary stuff perhaps, but already work is beginning to be shaped to maintain links in policy developments - a roundtable forum, transport 'champions', a 'gateway' group and other initiatives. The report reflects that these gains were achieved mainly by the dialogue established during the proceedings rather more than the presentations of policy or plans, important though they were. And it also poses a question for local MPs - can your position as Parliamentary representative also encompass one of animating and bringing together the may interests needed to transcend the planning silos often in place in cities and towns, without taking the role of pronouncing on the policy or arguing a 'corner'? On the evidence of the summit and its early results, it seems it can.
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24-May-2004
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