Children and family services are to close and up to 20 jobs lost in a shake-up of a major island charity.

The Children’s Centre announced today (Friday) that it is ending its early years facilities, including the nursery, breakfast, after school and holiday clubs at Woodbourne Road in Douglas and the nursery at Laxey Pavilion.

They will close on March 23.

And the charity is pulling out of its contract with government to provide family placement services, which include adoption and fostering.

The contract with the Department of Health and Social Care will transfer by October when the contract was due for renewal.

And the DHSC says the team will transfer to the new arrangements made for the service.

The charity says it is likely that 20 roles will be lost among early years staff and also some central and charitable services.

Chief executive Fiona Dawson said: ‘In our 150th year, The Children’s Centre is taking active steps to refocus its activities back to its core services to ensure it remains relevant and able to operate sustainably in a challenging environment – fulfilling as much as possible of what the island needs us to be and do.

‘Following an in-depth review of services provided, along with broader analysis of the operating environment, The Children’s Centre will continue to focus on adding value to the Isle of Man community to meet the needs of children, young people and families.’

There are currently 95 people working at The Children’s Centre.

A consultation with staff that may be made redundant will take about four weeks.

The charity says it will try to minimise the number of redundancies by not filling vacancies or renewing temporary contracts.

The Community Farm and MOBEX outdoor adventure will continue to operate.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Examiner.