Whittlesea council has thrown its support behind Thomastown’s Bubup Wilam for Early Learning centre with a 50-year lease at $1 a year.
The lease, signed at the council’s annual reconciliation dinner on June 13, was described by Whittlesea mayor Mary Lalios as a commitment to the centre’s ongoing success.
“Bubup Wilam is an important part of our community, a vital service for Aboriginal families in Whittlesea and for those who travel from across Melbourne to use it,” Cr Lalios said.
“Council will continue to work with the centre’s board members and CEO Lisa Thorpe to further its advocacy efforts to the state and federal governments to continue its great work in the early education field,” the mayor said.
Ms Thorpe said the centre now needed core funding, and a state government assessor had visited Bubup last week to identify options for its ongoing operation.
“If they say there’s no funding, we’ll be in strife,” Ms Thorpe said. “We won’t close the doors come July 1, but will I have to get rid of three-quarters of our staff?”
Funding from the early-start kindergarten program provides a qualified teacher for every 15 children; Bubup Wilam has five adults and a qualified teacher for 18 to 20 children.
A spokeswoman for Early Childhood Development Minister Wendy Lovell said Bubup Wilam was set to benefit as one of 10 partner organisations in the state government’s new $2.3 million Linking Learning project, announced last month. “Educators from Bubup Wilam and other children’s services will work with local nurses, primary school teachers and community leaders on strategies to … address the most pressing learning issues.”
