Mrs Grant has been employed at council for the past three years with funding for her position supplied from the Federal Government-funded Communities for Children program.

However, it has been decided that funding for the Wellington-based program will only continue until December with community consultation now being sought to decide its future.

In a bid to drum up support, Centacare Wilcannia-Forbes will be hosting a community consultation meeting at the Wellington Soldiers’ Club on July 9 and is calling on locals who have benefited from any of the services the early childhood co-ordinator has provided to come forward.

Mrs Grant said it would be fantastic to see a good representation of families and service providers attend the meeting.

“I have had a lot of feedback from parents on how important the role has been in Wellington,” she said.

“If they want to see this continue then I would encourage them to come forward and voice their support.”

During her employment, Mrs Grant has played an integral role in producing a quarterly calendar of events for local families and service providers, developing a child and family services directory and co-ordinating family-based events such as the annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic and Easter egg hunt. She has also worked with different health, education, welfare and childcare services providing a centre point for sharing information.

“I love my job and I love working with local families and young children to provide opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have,” she said.

“Now is a good opportunity with the extension of age focus from birth to five years of age to birth to 12-year-olds for more families to come forward and talk about things they would like to see happening for their children.”

Mayor Anne Jones said Wellington Council was providing its support for the continuation of Mrs Grant’s job.

“Council recognises the importance of this position and encourages everyone to come along to the community consultation to have their say,” she said.

The community consultation meeting will start at 10am on July 9.