‘Delighted’ Leigh Park charity Park Families hopes to build on success as it merges with local community organisation

Childcare and community charity Park Families has merged with fellow community charity YMCA Fairthorne Group.

Park Families run The Hub café in Park Parade, together with Early Years Childcare Settings at Warren Park Nursery, Sharps Copsey Nursery, Dunsbury Way Nursery, and Barn Owls Nursery.

Jon Stuart, CEO of Park Families, said: ‘YMCA and Park Families are a great fit with near-identical values and delivery model, and I am delighted that we have been able to secure the long-term future of our work through a merger with another charity.

‘This means that it will be business as usual for children and families in Leigh Park; all services will continue in their current format.’

The YMCA already run 14 early years settings in Hampshire and Isle of Wight, together with housing for young people, youth work, community centres, and two residential centres, including Fairthorne Manor near Botley.

Chris Hand, CEO at YMCA Fairthorne Group, said: ‘It is a privilege to have been asked to support Park Families as they chart a new way forward following the pandemic.

‘The quality of the work and dedication of the staff team is fantastic, and Leigh Park is certainly an area the YMCA is pleased to be able to work in.

‘We look forward to building on the success of Park Families and we are keen to hear from people in the community about what they would like us to do.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

We’ve slashed the cost of digital subscriptions to our website by 50 per cent for a limited time.

You can now subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for less than 13p a day.