Reduced timetable at Kenilworth children's centre announced

St John's Children's Centre will now only have services on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Many other services will be spread around the children's centres in the rest of Warwick district, such as in Lillington, Kingsway and Warwick Westgate.

The new timetable will come into effect on Monday July 23, and will last until Friday August 31. Only minor timetable changes are expected after August.

Cllr Kate Dickson, who sits on the Kenilworth Children's Centres Advisory Board, said: "Whilst it is good that there will be some activities, it is sad that so much is being moved out of Kenilworth."

Cradle Club will run from 10am to 11.30am on a Tuesday, and Movers and Shakers will also be held on Tuesdays from 10am to 11.15am.

Baby health drop-in sessions will be held on Wednesday August 1, Wednesday August 15 and Wedensday August 29 from 10am to 11.30am.

And on Thursdays, 'meet and play in the park' sessions will be held at either Abbey Fields or Guy Road Park from 10am to 11am.

The timetable has been reduced after Warwickshire County Council announced it was closing 25 of Warwickshire's 39 children's centres in the county.

It had agreed a 'transition period' for St John's which would last until April so a solution could be found to try and keep services.

But the Kenilworth Advisory Board announced last week that several redundancies were being made at the centre, including manager Caroline Condillac.

A spokesman for Warwickshire County Council said: "The way children and families services are provided in Warwickshire is changing to provide more flexible and mobile support to people in a wide range of community locations.

"Until the new service is established in 2019, people will see a number of changes to services on offer at their local children’s centre, in many cases services will reduce as new forms of support are developed.

"As plans develop further, we will endeavour to share details about services with local communities so people are aware of any changes and where they can go for advice and support."

Children's centre users will be able to discuss the new timetable at a drop-in session at St John's with council officers on Thursday July 12 from 12.45pm until 2.15pm.