Jacinta is passionate about supporting young people and has been involved for many years in Parent/Teacher Association activities; she was chair of the PTA at a large comprehensive school in the Bolton area for two consecutive years. She has particularly been involved in raising funds to enable local children to visit schools and provide support in parts of the developing world such as Tanzania and Kenya.
More recently Jacinta has taken up a position on the board of directors of a local community nursery and is an active member of the management team of this not-for-profit organisation. Their aim is to provide affordable, high-quality childcare to children aged up to four in an area which suffers from both social deprivation and a dearth of childcare places. The directors are supported in this vision by the local authority early years team.
“I was a working mum when my children were very young,” says Jacinta. “And I really believe that every parent has the right to access excellent, affordable childcare when they want to return to work. That way they can do it safe in the knowledge that their children are happy, educationally-stimulated and that they are being fed healthy and nutritious foods!”
Increasingly, health and social care is regarding early years provision as the ideal place to influence children and their families in terms of a healthy lifestyle. NTTX's public health consultant Andrew Rogers is shortly to provide a seminar at the nursery, giving the management team ideas as to what the nursery can do to help tackle rising childhood obesity. Andrew will help the team understand the health service and local government priorities in this area, and which aspects of children’s wellbeing may provide opportunities for accessing funding.
