This article is from page 73 of the 2008-08-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 73 JPG
THE young people of north Clare will be toddling off to a brand new eco-friendly creche this September with the opening of the Lisdoonvar- na Community Childcare Centre.
The new créche, which will hold an open day this Saturday, August 9, has been built to be friendly to the environment and includes solar pan- els and environmentally friendly un- der-floor heating.
The creche is the latest develop- ment to come online in the North Clare Sports and Amenity Park. It follows the re-opening of the Pavil- ion “Town Hall’ Theatre last month while a community playground 1s set
to be completed in September.
“We can cater for children from four months and up which will be very useful for people. These days most families have to have both peo- ple employed so it’s very important for people to have good child care,” said Patricia O’Leary-Darcy, man- ager of the new facility.
‘As well as that, a lot of parents job-share so we will do our best to Ie-TOoUDLE-IKommn NOY: I MMR SLO 0 UME N OD KccomrOr:hYAnrO) em three-days-on and things like that. We will try to be as flexible as pos- sible.”
The creche has been built to the highest modern standards, including a number of energy saving devices.
“It’s great to have the solar panels
and the under-floor heating. It has been up and going for a while now and is working well. It’s great to have that bit of independence when it comes to energy,’ continued Patri- cla.
“There is really a great need in the area for a service like this. It’s not just for the people of Lisdoonvarna, we have a lot of interest from all over the region – from Lahinch right up to Ballyvaughan.
“We have a capacity for around 50 kids or the equivalent of 50 full-time children. We could have maybe 60 children attending but some of them could be part-time.
“Because we are a community scheme it means that we get some
funding from the Office of the Min- ister for Children. This means that we can cater for a wide range of peo- ple and offer a range of fees to suit peoples particular circumstances. Anyone who wants more informa- tion on this should contact me and we can discuss all the options avail- able for people.”
For more information on the créche contact Patricia on 065 7075668 or 087 0525986.