Their call came after Hampshire County Council announced plans to merge 28 out of 81 children's centres and privatise them (News, 20 April).
The parents from the Save our Children's Centres (SOCC) Hampshire campaign are to step up pressure on the Government following the council's decision a fortnight ago to cluster 15 of the children's centres and charge parents for 'non-essential' services, including stay-and-play and messy play sessions, baby yoga and non-targeted services delivered by external providers such as baby massage and music.
Catherine Ovenden, a founder of the campaign group, said, 'We want a focus on universal access to services. If funding was ring-fenced, the council would have to spend the money on services.'
The parents have also changed the focus of their county-wide campaign to concentrate on protecting their own local centres.
Ms Ovenden said, 'I have focused so much attention on the county-wide campaign I am feeling that maybe I could have done more for my own local centre, The Patch in Clamore, which is now facing merger. We don't think it is clear what merge actually means.'
According to a council document, merging will 'reduce the numbers of management and administrative support staff, while retaining the offer of universal access and requiring no reduction in the number of frontline staff.'
The SOCC group will propose that the council first trial the merging of the centres in one area.