FAMILIES in northern parts of Gwent are missing out on crucial support for their children because services are concentrated in the south of the region.

That’s according to children’s charity Sparkle, which is now leading calls for a new centre to be built for families with children who have disabilities and additional needs.

The charity runs the Serennu Children’s Centre in Rogerstone, and warned there was an “inequity” of services across Gwent, and a need for “levelling up” in the north of the region.

Blaenau Gwent and northern parts of Torfaen have “significant pockets of deprivation” and some families there struggle to visit the nearest children’s centre, in Abergavenny, “due to the timing and availability of public transport”.

In practical terms, this means some children are missing out on services like the swimming classes at Serennu.

One parent from northern Gwent said: “The journey [to Rogerstone] for a 45-minute swim is just not feasible for us, whereas if we had this in Ebbw Vale, we would be there for every session.

“My girls adore the water and really benefit from quieter and more inclusive sessions, something that is very rare within our council timetable.”

Sparkle said a new children’s centre, which should be built in Blaenau Gwent, “would bring enormous benefit to a high proportion of families, alongside wider economic and other benefits”.

On behalf of the Gwent Regional Partnership Board, which comprises the local health board and five councils, the charity consulted professionals and families on the current availability of services.

They concluded the current service at a children’s centre in Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, was “significantly curtailed by the inadequacy of the current facilities”.

Staff there are “highly-qualified and committed professionals” but there are concerns services cannot be expanded at the hospital because of limited space, resources and facilities.

Any expansion of services in northern Gwent, rather than the construction of a new children’s centre, would be “be fragmented, piecemeal, inefficient and at disparate locations”, a Sparkle report warned.

The charity also expressed concerns services in the north of Gwent didn’t meet Welsh Government standards for the “transition [into adulthood] of young people with complex needs”.

Sparkle wants the new children’s centre to include a “Transition Hub” for older children preparing to move onto adult services.

A design for the new centre has been drawn up, and Sparkle estimates a 3.5-acre area of land would be needed to accommodate it.

The charity has now recommended that the regional partnership board push forward with plans to find a home for a new children’s centre in Blaenau Gwent.