THE future seems bright for a successful Bolton organisation dedicated to providing qualifications for people working with children.

Bolton Early Years Assessment Centre, established in 1992, has just moved out of its former home at the Sunnyside Community Centre in Moisant Street, Bolton.

It is now based in the Bolton Enterprise Centre in Washington Street and growth is expected over the next five years.

Centre co-ordinator Elizabeth Tatman said today they were hoping to achieve charitable company status in the next four to five months.

BEYAC was formed after Mrs Tatman spent 18 months preparing to meet a perceived demand for National Vocational qualifications.

It is a consortium from the voluntary, private and statutory sectors, providing training and assessment for NVQs in child care and education, playwork and training and development standards for assessors and trainers.

There are five part-time members of staff but the plan is to make some of the posts full-time.

Their candidates include childminders and people in play groups, creches, private day nurseries, centres for children with special needs, out of hours clubs, play schemes and parent helpers in schools.

Mrs Tatman said that previously there was no qualification available to these people. "Several hundred have now got NVQ level two and three," she said.

BEYAC, which has received a great deal of support from Bolton Bury Training and Enterprise Council, has registered candidates in Wigan, Bury, Bolton, Rochdale, Salford, Manchester and Stockport.

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