EARLY Years funding targeted towards some of Fermanagh and South Tyrone’s greatest areas of need are facing cuts of over £35,000 come this September.

The Early Years Fund is provided by the Deparment of Education and administered by Early Years - the organisation for young children - to the top 20 per cent of disadvantaged wards across Northern Ireland.

In March this year the Education Minister, John O’Dowd announced that the fund would be cut by £2 million, amongst a number of other cuts to the Department’s 2015/16 budget.

The move has been described as a “devastating” blow by Erne North councillor and mental health practitioner, Raymond Farrell who says Fermanagh and South Tyrone needs programmes like Early Years to help address its “serious mental health needs”.

One of the organisations affected by the cuts locally is Derrygonnelly playgroup, Bunnahone Bunnies.

According to Una Treacey, acting leader for the playgroup, Mr. O’Dowd’s announcement means that, if pre-school childcare is to continue in Derrygonnelly, staff will be left with no other option but to reduce their paid hours and press hard for fundraising in the community.

“This puts a lot of pressure on us,” she told the Impartial Reporter.

“As a privately run playschool, we have been fundraising for a long time and have gathered some money together, but it will not be anywhere near enough.

“The parents have been told and we did have a petition to try and fight this.

“But I think unfortunately the decision has been made.

“We will have to look at reducing hours -- but we can’t really reduce staff hours any more. Staff are working far beyond the hours they are paid as it is.

“There will have to be a lot more voluntary work and a lot more fundraising.

“Our numbers are low for next year -- we have 14 children enrolled for September where as this year we have over 20. Obviously that will impact on fundraising too.” The playgroup leader said childcare was a major issue in Derrygonnelly.

“The community rely on us,” she said, “But if you don’t have the money, you can’t run your playgroup!

“If we have to fundraise more, that will take focus away from what is really important -- caring for the children.” For the last five years the playgroup has received between £8,000 and £10,000 per annum through the Early Years Fund to go towards staff salaries.

“The Department’s Early Years team came down here and saw for themselves what we were doing with the playgroup,” explained the playgroup’s management committee treasurer, Sheila McGrath.

“We put a good case forward and we were awarded the funding.

“Now we are told it is completely off the table next year.” Geoffrey Cathcart chair of the management committee for the group, expects the cuts will mean Bunnahone Bunnies will end up running at a loss.

“But you can only do that for so long,” he acknowledges.

“It is probably breaking even at the minute with the funding.

“Every time I put the news on I hear about the increasing amount of pre school places across the water, but over here it seems to be they are cutting them!” Mr. Farrell says the Minister’s decision will have a huge impact on the ground.

“I have been consistently saying that if we are to see progress in terms of tackling our rural area’s serious mental health needs, we need to invest our resources in programmes like the Early Years Fund,” he said.

“I have long advocated and told the Education Minister John O’Dowd that early intervention and emotional well-being strategies need to be enhanced if we are ever going to make in roads into the mental health needs of the community. “The Early Years Fund has seen some £35,485 invested in local services but this is facing serious times to the detriment of children and parents who basically are the first educators.

“I can not understand how John O’Dowd can cut £2 million from this fund, some four fifths of the budget allocated, yet he can justify funds for an Irish Medium school in Mid-Ulster, going against the guidance of his own department advisers as well as the local community itself who are not in favour.

“If we are serious about improving mental health and well-being we need to put our money where our mouth is,” he added.

“These are the kind of programmes we need to see enhanced and developed rather than taken away.

“But it seems it is always the most vulnerable who are hit by these cuts.”