ABSTRACT
The Pen Green Children’s Centre for Children and Their Families was established in 1983 by Northamptonshire County Council and jointly funded through Education and Social Services Departments and the Local Health Authority. Pen Green has become a vital agent for social change in Corby, and a whole raft of services for children and families have been co-produced by staff and parents to serve the whole town. Indeed Pen Green has played an important part in Corby Town’s regeneration; it is a centre for the whole community, a centre that has engaged three generations of families. In 2013 we work with more than 40 per cent of the children under 5 in Corby and offer a comprehensive range of services for parents with babies, toddlers, nursery children and children aged 4–11 years in After School Clubs and Play Schemes. The Centre is open 7 days a week, 48 weeks a year and has become a responsive community-based resource where parents determine how services will be used and are very much part of delivering the services.
