The Mercers' Company, which also focuses on the management of property and charitable trusts, has stepped in to save Coram Family Parents' Centre with a 600,000 award over the next three years. The centre would have been forced to close some of its services had it not raised the necessary Pounds 200,000 per year to meet core running costs.
The centre was set up in 1997 to provide community-based training in parenting and other skills for families in the King's Cross area of London, many of them socially isolated and unfamiliar with mainstream services. It also provides high-quality childcare so parents can participate in training and seek work.
The centre was initially funded through a seven-year grant from the Single Regeneration Budget, which ended last month.
Gillian Pugh, chief executive of the Coram Family, said, 'Thanks to the funding from the Mercers' Company, the gap is very close to being met for the next three years. This will enable us to develop a more sustainable funding strategy for 2007 and beyond.'
Ms Pugh added, 'The Parents' Centre is a large operation. We need a group of permanent members of staff at the centre at all times, and the funding will enable us to add to the service we provide through Sure Start and other local programmes.'
Charles Parker, clerk to the Mercers' Company, said it was delighted to support the Coram Family's work. 'The range of innovative and effective services provided at the Parents' Centre is an excellent example of best practice in this field,' he said. 'We hope that, with the benefit of this grant, the work of the centre will continue to flourish and to influence the provision of similar services in other parts of the country.'
Further centre funding comes from the new Kings Cross and Holborn Sure Start, the Department for Education and Skills, Camden Connexions and the Health Care Foundation.
