WIREDGOV

A midwife from Porthcawl who helped a new mother overcome the challenges of being a parent for the first time, has scooped the top accolade in prestigious early years awards.

Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, Lesley Griffiths, with national ‘Stars In Their Lives’ award winner, Victoria Owens

The Welsh Government’s inaugural ‘Stars In Their Lives’ awards recognise the valuable contribution hard-working Flying Start professionals make to people’s lives and children’s development.

At an awards ceremony in Cardiff recently, Victoria Owens was announced as the overall national winner, as well as the Cardiff and South East Wales regional winner.

The midwife was nominated by Kelly Gittins a new-mum who was facing a daily battle to get her new-born baby daughter to breastfeed successfully, until she met Victoria who provided invaluable support and advice.

Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, Lesley Griffiths, presented the awards and congratulated Victoria on her achievement. She said:

“I would like to congratulate Victoria on her well-deserved award. I am delighted our hard-working Flying Start staff are being recognised for the invaluable help and support they provide to people in Wales.

“Having visited Flying Start facilities across the country and talking to the families who have benefitted from the help and support provided by our dedicated staff, it is clear to see the huge impact the programme is having on people’s lives.”

Victoria said:

“I’m so surprised and pleased to have won! Being a first time parent is daunting for anyone and I am so glad I was able to provide  the support needed.

“Awards like this highlight the great work being done by Flying Start workers all over Wales.”

The Minister also presented awards to the regional winners at the celebration recently:

• Doris Crossman - a parenting officer from Cenarth, Ceredigion who helped a mother settle into the local community and overcome her worries at being a parent for the first time
• Mike Davies – a parent support worker from Swansea who provided invaluable support to help a father build a stronger relationship with his children and family
• Jo Parry – a health visitor from Flintshire who provided life changing 24/7 support to a mother and father who were daunted by the imminent arrival of their new baby.

At the ceremony, the Minister also announced £6.9 million of capital funding for the Flying Start scheme, which offers free part-time quality childcare for 2-3 year olds, parenting support, an enhanced health visitor service and help for early language development.

The significant capital investment will fund the creation of childcare settings and places where parents will be able to access the help and support they need to cope with the pressures of poverty.

This includes the creation of new childcare facilities in Abertillery, Blackwood and Carmarthenshire as well as improvements to existing Flying Start facilities across Wales.

Lesley Griffiths added recently:

“I am delighted to be here today to recognise the hard work and commitment shown by our Flying Start professionals and announce £6.9 million to help continue to give children from our most deprived communities the best possible start in life.

“This funding will support 40 new capital projects across Wales to ensure we have the facilities we need to meet our commitment to double the number of children benefitting from Flying Start to 36,000 by 2016.”