A children's centre in Watford has vowed to continue supporting new mums and dads, despite funding cuts leading to the demise of popular parenting classes.

Sure Start Children's Centres in Watford have all faced cuts after Hertfordshire County Council, which provides annual grants to pay for services, used a new formula to calculate where services are most needed.

This is on top of a nine per cent reduction in funding from central Government.

At Beechfield Children's Centre, which is run by the Watford and District YMCA in Gammons Lane, smiling parents flooded through its doors for the weekly under-1s group last Tuesday.

Ten families also enrolled on the centre's five-week long parenting course, which began on Monday and is likely to be the last one to take place without extra funding.

Ruth Ellis, director of operations for the YMCA, said they were vital to helping support new mums and dads, particularly as a place where they can meet other parents.

However, the YMCA, which also manages the Littlebury Children's Centre in Mildred Avenue, is hoping to win funding that would allow every centre in the town to continue running the classes.

“If we are successful, that would give me enough money to support the whole of Watford,” said Ms Ellis. “If not, we will look for additional funding.

“I'm relieved at the fact none of the children's centres are closing down in Hertfordshire. I'm pleased the council is supporting them because in other areas, they're just shutting them down.”

Beechfield was officially opened by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2008, with Littlebury helping parents before that.

“This is part of our remit, to work with the community,” said Ms Ellis. “We have got experience working with children from three months in our nursery in Abbots Langley and this seemed to be the right thing to work with families.

“They're very important. We get a lot of parents coming in. Our courses are well used. We also have health visitors come in doing baby checks so we're very much part of the community.

“We are also able to support parents with post-natal depression, giving them skills to work with their children. It's also become a contact point for parents to come and ask questions and everyone is welcome.

“We're remaining positive. We hope the Government changes its mind and starts to concentrate on supporting families and children and we will be looking for funding to continue our work.”

A Hertfordshire County Council representative said: “Hertfordshire County Council has not reduced the amount of funding it provides to children's centres.

“We have used a more up to date formula this year to provide services where they are most needed, which has meant that the amount of money provided to centres in Watford has decreased slightly. “But the overall funding we provide has remained the same.”