GUNNEDAH Family Day Care (GFDC) has received a massive helping hand after gaining $400,000 in sustainability support, which will help them operate and expand over the next three years.
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Manager Kerry Patterson said it was "amazing" and would mean a great deal to the organisation that is usually run and funded independently.
The latest funding has come courtesy of the federal government's Community Child Care Fund, which also provided $105,000 to Esteem Kids St Xavier's Gunnedah.
Ms Patterson said it was hard to describe just how important the money would be over the next few years.
"We want to grow, the only way that you can stay viable is to grow so we need to grow our service," she said.
"And this money will help assist us in supporting the educators we've got, retaining the educators we've got and being able to expand our business."
The day care has already expanded significantly in recent times, and now has educators in Gunnedah, Coolah, Gilgandra, Coonamble, Wee Waa, Boggabri, Currabubula and Quirindi.
GFDC received the most funds in the electorate of Parkes, which by area is the largest in the state, and Ms Patterson believes it's an acknowledgement of the fact more services are needed west of Gunnedah.
In order to successfully expand, she said additional funds were needed though, which is why the recent announcement came as such a relief.
"A lot of the services [out west] don't have before or after school care which is something that family day care can offer," she said.
"We visit our educators very regularly, we really value that face-to-face so from our base here in Gunnedah that means there's a lot of travel involved.
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"And there's training and things like that that we can now offer that we probably would not have been able to offer before."
Parkes MP Mark Coulton said he was glad to see more funds opened up for the childcare sector
"This funding will help local child care services improve access to quality care, particularly in remote, rural and disadvantaged parts of the Parkes electorate," he said.
"It will be good for our local kids, good for our hard-working families and ultimately for our community.
"It will also have a positive economic benefit by allowing more local parents to get back into work or to take on additional hours if they chose."
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