Bee on Your Bonnet’ will kick off on November Thursday 8th 2007 in Maghery Community Hall at 7pm.
The topic for debate will be ‘My Child’s care – Who Cares?’ – Access to childecare in rural areas.

‘My Child’s Care – Who Cares?’ Public debate will help inform decision makers and policymakers in tackling the childcare issue in Northern Ireland. DARD Minister Michelle Gildernew , MP MLA highlighted that “the biggest barrier facing families in rural areas was the childcare issue”, in taken up her post Minister for DARD in May 2007, she made a commitment to address the issue and has set up a rural childcare stakeholder group to make recommendations that will be present to the Executive in Winter 2008.

You maybe a leader in playgroup, teacher in the local school, a mother who cannot work due to lack of childcare provision, a father who has drive long distances in the morning before starting work to take your child to a childcare facility, or a woman in rural area who would like to set up childminding facility but cannot drive to Belfast to access training: these are just some of the issues facing families accessing childcare in rural areas.

William Crawley, BBC television and radio presenter will be hosting the debate and the panellists will be selected from community, voluntary and statutory agencies, both local and regional across Northern Ireland.

TADA Rural Support Network hopes you will join us on the night and have your views represented and debated. There is no short term solution, but we hope by creating a space for public debate, we are raising awareness within our local community, and that our elected representatives hear that childcare is a pertinent issue that need to be addressed to ensure the sustainability of our local economy.

Yours truly,

Grainne Close

Development Manager