A new £900,000 children and family centre has opened its doors in the district.

The revamped Owlet centre at Barn Croft in Windhill was officially opened with a red ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday.

Bradford Council's executive member for children's services Councillor Colin Gill was there to do the honours, with a few pairs of tiny helping hands from some of the centre's young users.

The one-stop centre is being run as a partnership between the Council's Family Centre Service and Sure Start Shipley.

A team of about 60 people will work from there offering a massive range of services from early education and health advice to family and parenting skills support.

Health workers and midwives will also be running clinics from it. Other facilities include a baby cafe, a toy takeaway lending service and an Ofsted-inspected nursery. Even a multi-sensory room has been developed as part of the centre.

And Job Centre Plus also has a space in the building where adults can get guidance. Richard Bates, head of the Council's children's services, said at the opening: "Children need to get the best out of life and we all think this centre will be a real hub of the community, a real way of making sure that children do get the best out of life and go on to achieve.

"About £900,000 was spent on the centre and it was money exceptionally well spent, the facilities here are top-notch."

And Coun Gill urged workers there to set their objectives high and work themselves out of a job. He said: "Owlet gives parents and children access to support from a wide range of other agencies and it is this cross-border working that is particularly exciting because it is the way ahead.

"I would like us to get to a position in my lifetime where we don't need this kind of facility but in the meantime I recognise that we do."

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