FAMILIES are encouraged to make use of the benefits of a Yate child contact centre following a visit from Steve Webb MP who has commended the services provided there.
Mr Webb visited the South Gloucestershire Child Contact Centre, based in the Methodist Church on Saturday, January 17.
The centre is currently campaigning to keep child contact centres going as The National Association for Child Contact Centres (NACCC), who oversee the Yate services, says 40 centres have closed in the last 18 months across England and Wales.
The Yate centre opened in 1999 to provide support to families affected by parental separation and is organised and run by a group of volunteers.
During the visit Mr Webb met with the volunteers who run the centre, on Moorland Road, and learnt about the services provided.
Mr Webb said: “The contact centre provides a valuable space where children can spend time with a parent who they may not see on a regular basis.
“I am very grateful to the volunteers who help to provide this facility and I would encourage other families in our area who could benefit from this service to find out more.”
The centre provides an environment where children can meet with parents with whom they no longer live after relationship breakdown.
Toys, games and facilities are equipped in the church as well as refreshments, to provide a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
The NACCC have recently said child contact centres around the country are closing because it can no longer obtain legal aid.
The association has warned that some areas of Britain now have no contact centres.
Sonia Morgan, from the Yate centre, said: “ The child contact centre has been welcoming families for 15 years, and welcomed Steve Webb on a visit and he met some of the loyal volunteers who run the contact centre at Yate Methodist Church.
"It is a neutral place where children of separated families can spend time with one or both parents, and sometimes other family members.
"The most important people in the centre are the children."
The Yate centre is open on the first and third Saturday of each month, from 2pm to 4pm.
Further information can be found on the website southgloucschildcontactcentre.org.uk.
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