Children's centres provide a variety of advice and support for parents and carers. Their services are available to you from pregnancy right through to when your child goes into reception class at primary school. They bring all the different support agencies together to offer a range of services to meet you and your child’s needs, all in one place. They’re somewhere your child can make friends and learn as they play. You can get professional advice on health and family matters, learn about training and job opportunities or just socialise with other people.

Each children’s centre has its own programme of activities which changes each term. Here is an example of some of the activities on offer:

• Chatterbox helps children to develop early language and communication skills
• Ready for school groups and home learning packages
• Diet, exercise and healthy living support and advice
• Play and stay sessions offer activities for children to learn through play
• Information, advice and support on employment opportunities, childcare and training
• Incredible Years programs for parents to develop skills to deal with everyday behaviour
• Family Support offering individual support for families in their home or in the centre
• Volunteering opportunities
• Plus many more

To see what is available at your local centre, please see our Children’s Service Directory.

If you would like to be kept up to date with details of what’s on in your area and services you can access through the children’s centre, please register your child. You will receive a free toy for any child under 5 that you register. Once you have completed the online registration, pop in to your local centre to pick up your toy. To be eligible for the free toy you must live in Trafford, your child must be under 5 when you register and you must not previously have registered with children’s centres.

In Trafford, some children's centres have a dedicated building in the community, other children's centres are information points based in existing community buildings such as libraries and schools. There are 16 children’s centres and information points as follows:

Altrincham area

• Bowdon and Hale Information Point
• Broadheath and Dunham Children's Centre
• Broomwood and Timperley Children's Centre
• Hale Barns Information Point

Partington area

• Partington and Carrington Children's Centre

Sale area

• Ashton on Mersey Information Point
• Sale Central Information Point
• Sale Moor Children's Centre
• Sale West Children's Centre

Stretford area

• Firswood Children's Centre
• Lostock and Gorse Hill Information Point
• Old Trafford Children's Centre Information Point
• Stretford Children's Centre

Urmston area

• Davyhulme Children's Centre
• Flixton and Woodsend Children's Centre
• Urmston Information Point

We are actively trying to work with local communities to share information of services on offer and to seek your views on what you want from your centre. Please let us know what you think by completing our parental satisfaction survey