THE fantastic job carried out by the Aviemore Community Children’s Group can not be under-estimated by anyone – including Highland Council.
For many years, the group has plugged the huge gaping holes in child-care provision for families living in and around Aviemore.
This has not only been for pre-school children but right up to older teens who attend the ACCG’s extensive summer programme.
They have been a life-saver for hundreds upon hundreds of working mums and dads down the years.
Those who start work before the local primary school opens or are still at work after it closes for the day; the long summer and Easter holidays and not forgetting those days when the school has to unexpectedly shut for bad weather or problems with the building or grounds.
Parents in Aviemore have been able to put their children into a terrific facility that provides a professional and really caring environment, and which is great value for money.
In fact, the only thing that lets the group down is their home at Aviemore Village Hall – how ironic then that the ACCG could be made homeless because of the huge improvements on the cards for child-care premises in the village.
It was widely understood in the community that the group was to be the preferred provider of pre-school care at the nearby new school, and that this was to be wrap-round care ie. not just limited to school hours.
We do not know the ins and outs of the alleged decision taken by the local authority behind closed doors when the group lost this status.
But we do know that Highland Council must ensure on Friday that the Aviemore Community Children’s Group still has a future in Aviemore – otherwise there will be many angry and upset working parents.
