A Belfast mum has welcomed news that funding has been guaranteed for another year for Sure Start services.
Sue Start supports children aged four and under in disadvantaged areas, with 38 locations across Northern Ireland.
On Wednesday, the Department of Education announced it would not be going ahead with proposed cuts to the budget for the service.
Read more: Sure Start potential cuts 'stripping away kids' futures' says NI mum
Katie Petticrew has a son who received an autism diagnosis in April and has been helped by the Sure Start services at Saol Úr in West Belfast.
She previously told Belfast Live that cutting funding for the programme would be 'stripping away kids' futures' and that her son had benefitted from speech and language therapy help.
The 23-year-old said she was over the moon when she heard that funding would not be cut for Sure Start.
"I'll be honest, I was in the office and I did a wee jump and a dance and the girls were laughing, I was all bizz," she said.
"I'm just glad that other families are going to be able to benefit from the service that my son and I were able to benefit from.
"I think it's amazing news, it's great, it's what we wanted - we screamed and shouted and we were listened to and heard.
"But there's still so much more work to do - there's hundreds of kid in NI at the minute without a place for primary school, in secondary school and there's kids that are supposed to be in special educational needs settings that haven't got their place yet.
"So although this is amazing news and what we wanted, I still think NI has along way to go."
She said that it had been a stressful few weeks, thinking that her son would not be able to go into the pre-school placement programme.
"For us, we were terrified because I feel like my son needed that type of setting to prepare him," she added.
"When we were speaking with his disability speech and language therapist about where he's going next year, she was worried that the Sure Start service wouldn't be provided.
"That would have set him back big time because he already has developmental delays and without that help and early intervention that would have been worse, he would have been at a complete disadvantage.
"I'm glad that we don't have that fear anymore, he's going to have somewhere where he'll have a year to settle into his next big journey in education, so delighted with the news."
She said that she was also pleased that the announcement would end uncertainty for the people who had worked so hard with her child.
"Even just the girls at Sure Start too, they were terrified that there could be job losses," she said.
"They put their whole hearts and souls into the community and the kids mean just as much to them as they do to us, they genuinely do love and care for them so I'm really glad they're keeping their jobs."
For Siobhan Connolly, the project co-ordinator at Saol Úr, the news was a welcome arrival.
"We were just absolutely delighted to get the email to say we were secure for the year and we'd got our budget," she said.
"It was a challenge, do doubt, for parents, staff and our service users, but we're just delighted we have a flat line budget to provide our services for families.
"For us it was just about that uncertainty, where we were trying to figure out how we could provide services at a reduced capacity but we're delighted that won't be the case now.
"We offer services from when you become pregnant right through until the child is four, we offer maternity, ante natal services, right through to family support and speech and language services - it's all a wrap around service so without one service, we need everyone, Sure Start is a big family and we need everyone working together like that."
Siobhan added that she had been able to reassure families that their developmental pathways would remain open.
"For us it's enabled us to be able to move along with all of those families moving forward and we're so happy that no service will be stopped.
"It's a vital service in the community. It's not just from Saol Ur's perspective, it's all Sue Starts getting their funding and that's just so crucial."
In a statement on Thursday, Department of Education Permanent Secretary
"In considering the scale and cumulative impact of the proposed cuts, which represent a major change to long standing Ministerial programmes and policies, I am of the view that such a decision should be taken by a Minister, not a Permanent Secretary," he said.
"Evidence shows that the scale of the proposed cuts to Early Years, Extended Schools and Youth Service programmes would create greater budgetary pressures for the next financial year and beyond across a range of areas, including special educational needs.
"Furthermore, the reductions would cause significant detriment to the provision of services for our most vulnerable children, young people and families, and run counter to all the Department’s efforts to tackle educational disadvantage."
READ NEXT:
- Sure Start and youth services funding cuts avoided
- Stormont department must do more to improve PIP benefit, report says
- Family with SEN child "terrified" at prospect of homelessness
- Cost of Living: Iceland launches initiatives to help parents with costs over half term
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
