Adelaide Williams, 22 mos. Photo credit: Reenat Sinay
Parents of deaf children in Tower Hamlets held a rally at Roman Road Market Saturday in a bid to save their kids’ nursery.
Overland Children’s Centre in Bow is the borough’s only public nursery with special resources for hearing impaired children. Along with three other local nurseries that cater for children with special needs, it is in danger of being closed due to budget cuts.
The rally, organised by the Tower Hamlets Deaf Children’s Society (THDCS) and the Save Our Nurseries campaign, drew dozens of children, friends, relatives, volunteers and local councillors. Lollies and balloons were given out, and cakes were on offer as volunteers canvassed the market for petition signatures.
Husna Begum, chair of the Tower Hamlets Deaf Children’s Society (THDCS) and mother to a four-year-old profoundly deaf son, said: “If we don’t get an intervention, our kids will be missing out on so much. Each day is important because deaf kids are already so behind their hearing peers.”
Overland cares for 10 children under three and is the only public facility in Tower Hamlets with resources like speech therapists and teachers trained in British Sign Language.
It is also the only children’s centre with soundproofed rooms and good acoustics that play a crucial part in speech and sound exercises.
So far the Save Our Nurseries campaign have collected 1,450 signatures, but are seeking as many as it will take to get the mayor’s attention.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman was set to decide on all four nurseries on 3 December, but as of last week’s emergency council meeting, the decision was postponed.
Rachael Saunders, lead Labour councillor for Tower Hamlets and a supporter of the Save Our Nurseries campaign, believes that pressure from the parents has led to the delay.
She said: “Those parents are pushing so hard, the mayor isn’t willing to say no to them.”
The campaign to save the nurseries in danger of closing has been on-going in the borough since the proposed budget cuts of £100m were announced in September. Parents and concerned citizens have staged several protests against the cuts outside Town Hall in various other locations across Tower Hamlets.
***Update: After much hard work and rallying on the part of these parents and the community, Tower Hamlets decided to keep Overland Children’s Centre and the other nurseries open.
Reenat Sinay 