Childcare for Baradine district residents has taken one giant step forwards following the announcement of grant success. 

The Baradine Preschool has been awarded $225,120 from the NSW Government’s ClubGrant Infrastructure program for stage one of their project to construct a long day care centre.

This project is one of 46 projects across NSW sharing in $6.4 million under the latest round of funding in the grants program and include projects in the areas of sport and recreation, the arts and culture, disaster readiness and community infrastructure.

Baradine Preschool Director, Lauren Harris says that the Baradine Preschool Management Committee is delighted that they have landed the funding.

“This project addresses the vital need to establish a long day care service in the town and eliminate the need for families to travel a minimum 100km return trip to access the closest service for children 0 to 3 years old,” she said.

“It also addresses the need to invest in local infrastructure to support early childhood care and educational outcomes and support working families.

“We have been trying to get a grant for a number of years without any luck and we were getting very close to our development application use-by-date.  This win means we are on track to move ahead with the construction of this much needed facility.”

Lauren said that the long day care service will be built alongside the existing preschool facility.

“This means that the service will serve a wider range of children, from infancy through to preschool age, creating a continuous, long-term educational journey for children within the one service,” she added.

“We want to provide a service that gives parents essential childcare support, allowing them to pursue employment or education opportunities, reducing stress and improving family stability. We believe this project has the potential to attract staff with young children to the town to fill vacancies that exist in businesses such as the hospital, schools and government departments. It will make the town more attractive to new residents if there is an easily accessible day care facility without having to tackle the tyranny of distance.

“Our plan is to create a well-rounded, enriching experience for children while supporting families and fostering a sense of inclusive community.  

“We view the establishment of a children’s long-daycare service to be a massive game-changer for the whole Baradine community.”