Tag: childcare

Düsseldorf – Childcare is back

Düsseldorf opened kindergardens and daycare facilities regularly again on 8 June. In cooperation with the youth and health departments, the virology division of Düsseldorf’s university hospital will conduct a clinical model study in local kindergardens. It’s the first study of this size and concept in Germany. 5,000 children and child care workers will be regularly examined and  tested for the coronavirus in order to obtain results concerning the spread of the virus among children.

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Dusseldorf – Study of children and corona

The University Hospital of Dusseldorf in cooperation with the Youth and the Health Department will conduct a clinical model study testing 5,000 children and childcare workers in June, when Kindergartens are reopened after the corona lockdown. The results of the voluntary tests shall inform the research concerning the dissimination of the coronavirus through children. It is the most extensive study of its kind in Germany. You can read more here (in German)

Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld

Guimarães – Opening daycare

Guimarães is testing all daycare employees for COVID 19 in preparation for the reopening of daycare centres on 18 May. All employees (teaching and non-teaching staff) will be tested. This covers about 450 employees in 39 institutions, and is taking place within the scope of the Government’s return to normality plan, in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Security. The tests start this Monday, 11 May 11, at the facilities of the Pro-Child headquarters. More information (in Portuguese) here.

Contact: Crisalia Albves

Katowice – Adapted fees for nurseries

The city will be paying the full amount of the subsidy for non-public nurseries, and asks of them to reduce to a minimum the fixed fees charged to parents. This measure will affect a total of 1,267 places in 31 non-public nurseries. Public nurseries will also be adapting their fees to support parents. Read more here (in Polish)

Contact: Judyta Etmanska

Birmingham – £230 million for 16,000 businesses

Birmingham City Council is providing £230 million of financial support to approximately 16,000 eligible businesses which have been affected by the crisis. Eligible businesses work in areas such as retail, leisure and hospitality. Nurseries are also included in the financial support scheme. Read more here and here

Contact: Lloyd Broad

Bologna – Activities for children

Bologna’s Institution for Education and Schools (IES) has been offering online educational resources to families with children aged 0-6, to help and keep them entertained, educated and exercised without leaving the house. Since 25 March, the platform has collected a growing list coming directly from the working groups of the municipal nursery and kindergarten, as well as from Children’s and Families’ Centres (Cbf’s): online suggestions and activities, indicatively divided by age groups (0-3 and 3-6) and for free access to all.

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Gijon – Digital window with children

Gijón has launched a website where the children can speak about their experiences in this period of confinement: how they are spending the time, their concerns and proposals for activities. They can send a short video or pictures to a local mail or WhatsApp number and the local team will upload the videos and pictures.  In the first days the Council received 15 videos and many pictures. The council has adopted required legal measures – the parents has to fill a template with their consent.  The videos and pictures will only be used on the web. More information (in Spanish) here.

Contact: Enrique Rodríguez

Lille – Civic reserve

Lille Metropole has initiated a ‘Metropolitan Civic Reserve’ for its employees not involved dealing with the coronavirus. This plan allows metropolitan officials to carry out solidarity actions during their working time to share the burden of caregivers. These actions include food and emergency aid, childcare for caregivers or security personnel, contact with isolated vulnerable people and blood donation, in the strictest compliance with the rules on containment and health safety. To date, more than a hundred metropolitan officials have volunteered to the metropolitan civic reserve. Read more (in French) here.

Osmangazi – Food distribution

Following the confinement rules established in Osmangazi, Turkey, people above 65 years and below 20 years old are prohibited to go out, apart from emergencies. To provide people at home with food and other essential items, the municipality offers a delivery service. More than 30,000 families have ordered goods via email or telephone, while the authorities have proactively delivered basic goods to over 130,000 families. Read more here (in Turkish)

Contact: Şenol Dülger

Kartal / Istanbul – Marching band for the morale

With music in the streets, the municipality of Kartal, a district of Istanbul, entertains and supports people at home during the corona crisis. A marching band played a series of concerts in ten neighbourhoods and was greeted with flags and applause. The municipality also developed a video programme for kindergarten kids. You can read more and find an overview of measures here (in Turkish and English)

Bordeaux – Support to businesses

Bordeaux has implemented a range of measures to support the local economy and businesses. These include:

  • Free parking in outdoor car parks.
  • Exemption from terrace tax and taxes levied on the use of public space and advertising.
  • Tourist tax to be paid in instalments, easing the pressure on businesses’ finances, in particular those in the tourist sector.
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Nice – Childcare for food workers

Nice is extending the childcare which it has been providing for health workers and other providers of necessary services to include the children of those involved in the food industry. The city already organises daycare for the children of many types essential personnel whom the national education system does not provide any service for. Read more (in French) here.

Contact: Jérôme Sieurin

Leipzig – Hotline for families

To support families in the current situation, the City of Leipzig has set up a phone hotline, available from 8am – 6pm, 7 days a week. Experienced personnel from the fields of childcare, school social work and youth work answer questions ranging from how to keep children occupied to Corona-related rules affecting families. They also provide educational counselling. The goal is to offer low-threshold support to families in a time of restricted social contacts. Read more here

Contact: Christin Rettke

Stuttgart – Financial support

Stuttgart has published a summary of measures that it has taken to ensure those who are not able to work or who have childcare complications can be reimbursed. Other measures include the deferral of several municipal taxes, such as trade tax and rents, and grants are made available for culture and sports venues. For those that are simply unable to work as a result of the current measures, access to unemployment services have also been eased. Read more here and here and here

Contact: Claudia Schulcz

Ljubljana – Child care volunteers

When the Slovenian Government banned closed all organised child care, Ljubljana sent a request to kindergarten and elementary school principals to find out if any of their teachers and educators would be willing to volunteer to take children into care, either at the volunteer’s home or the child’s home. 53 educators from Ljubljana’s kindergartens and 26 teachers from Ljubljana’s elementary schools responded to the request. Due to the virus’ specificities, the volunteers can only be healthy people under 50, with no chronic illnesses and those who do not have small children at home. In this way the city has managed to guarantee child care for the children whose parents are obliged to work in extraordinary circumstances.

Contact: Polona Novak

Poznan – Information for locals, foreigners, and live mayoral broadcasts

Poznan is working to make sure that people have the best and most up-to-date information on COVID-19. This includes a special website for foreigners, available in Russian, English and Ukrainian, and a special phone helpline for Ukrainians The City opened a special helpline where they can call and ask for help and information. Learn more about it here.

The mayor is also keeping contact with locals through a daily Facebook live video confrerence with live translation in sign language. He presents the most recent news about a situation in the city and actions undertaken by local authorities and also answers questions from viewers. You can see the video conferences here.      

Other information on topics like public transport and childcare is made available on a website here (in Polish).

Contact: Anna Aleksandrzak

Paris – Support for health staff

Paris is offering services to ensure that those on the front line fighting the spread coronavirus are able to go to work. The city is running child care facilities for the children of health professionals. It is also collaborating with the national level, offering the state skilled personnel, in particular doctors and midwives, who work for the local government.

Paris is also making making space available for doctors whose waiting rooms are too small for appropriate distance to be kept between patients. Read about these and more measures (in French) here. Regular transmissions on Parisian activity around Covid 19 are posted here.

Contact: Jean-Yves Camus