PACE (Providing Access to Childcare and Employment) provides support to unemployed parents encouraging them into employment by helping them to access childcare. This is available for the Gravesend area of Kent. The project is exploring how to use childcare to aide parents into employment, learning and volunteering opportunities.
There are several partners from across Europe involved with this:

• Wattrelos Association of Community Centres (France)
• Karel de Grote University College (Belgium)
• Artevelde University College Ghent (Belgium)
• Cluster of Social Services Centres in Saint Martin Boulogne (France)
• Community Center 'De Mussen' (Netherlands)
• City of Ghent (Belgium)
• Brighton and Hove LA (UK)
• Kent County Council
• Stad Turnhout (Belgium)
• The Education People (UK)

To make childcare more accessible.
Help parents into employment by having support with childcare.
Develop new ways of delivering childcare to meet the needs of parents that could be replicated elsewhere in Europe.

We would like to see an increase of:

• Families taking up Free for 2 childcare places in Gravesham
• The number of unemployed parents gaining employment in Gravesham

This project will provide an opportunity to not only exchange practice between partners concerning the engagement of families but will also provide a new opportunity to bring together children’s centres, early years and childcare providers, training providers, and employment organisations on providing tailored support to parents to engage in training and volunteer opportunities to support them into employment.