Merri Community Childcare Centre was opened in April 1987 to provide childcare for children of parents who live or work in Northcote.  Northcote Council provided the land and the State Government provided funding to establish the childcare centre and adjoining Infant Welfare Centre.  Since 2001 the Infant Welfare centre has relocated to 2A RaleighSt,Thornbury. Commonwealth grants used to provide partial funding for the operation of the Centre. Now the costs are covered by parent fees and fundraising. A Committee of Management operates the Merri Community Childcare Centre & Kindergarten Inc.  The Committee of Management is primarily made up of parents, who lease the premises from the City of Darebin.

Parent Testimonials

"We chose to send our children to Merri, a small community-based centre, after being in a privately operated centre and we couldn't be happier. The staff are wonderful and most have been at Merri for quite a while, there have been no issues with constantly leaving our children with unknown temporary staff which was the case at our previous centre. The children receive a wonderful range of cooked, nutritious meals thanks to the centre's cook. Our kids have loved their time at Merri!"

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"Merri is very well managed, as well as welcoming - I've got such confidence in it that I never give a second thought to whether I'm happy to leave my daughter there."

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"My children love going to Merri. On these days it is comforting for me to know they are being well looked after with lots of cuddles from the staff, plus being a working Mum it is great to know they are eating a healthy lunch, so dinner time can be a little bit easier at the end of the day."

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"I like the multicultural things they do - the food, learning about other cultures and countries, even learning sign language sometimes!"