Santa Casa da Feira will create a daycare center with shared services with a nursing home

The Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Santa Maria da Feira will build a daycare center for 78 children with services common to its seniors' home, announcing today that this investment should be around two million euros.

According to the aforementioned institution of the Aveiro district and Porto Metropolitan Area, the new facility aims to meet the growing demand for pre-school education for children up to 3 years old in the city of Feira. It will be built on land adjacent to the Lar S. Nicolau and will have shared areas with that structure, to guarantee an "intergenerational component".

"This issue of the relationship between the two age groups is very important, because having children and elderly people living together every day in the garden, for example, allows the youngest children to learn how to deal with the elderly, which will lead them to value them throughout their lives, and it also allows the home's users to face the days with a different spirit, because they have the joy of the children around" , explains Santa Casa's provider, Conceição Alvim Ferraz, to Lusa.

The daycare's architectural design has already been approved by the Social Security Institute – which, according to the Misericórdia's ombudsman, "considered it very disruptive and very modern" – and is now awaiting the opening of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security's competition for co-financing.

Santa Casa expects the work to be completed in 2026 and "start operating in September 2027".

The technical director of Lar S. Nicolau, Patrícia Rosado, admits that "there is some response in the region to the demand for daycare centers," but says that, thanks to "demographic changes in Feira, which has attracted more people due to the growth of its economic and industrial fabric, there are still many people who have nowhere to leave their children when they go to work and end up enrolling them in places outside the municipality."

"And the problem became worse with the free program established by the Government a few years ago" , he highlights.

The new daycare center will occupy approximately one hectare of land, encompassing a construction area of ​​approximately 1,462 square meters. It will also include a green strip on the banks of the Caster River, along the eco-path that runs alongside it, under a loan agreement with the municipality.

"Another very important component of the project is the environmental aspect, not only due to the connection to the walkway and the river, but also thanks to a vegetable garden and a sensory garden, where the 57 residents of the home will be able to work with the children," says Conceição Alvim Ferraz, indicating that these structures will be "adapted to both generations", including users in wheelchairs.

Services such as the kitchen, laundry, and administrative offices will be shared between the home and daycare, but the provider is still concerned about the costs of the project, which will create 14 new jobs.

"It's a very expensive project and, of the total amount needed, we have 20% in our own capital," he adds.

"Since the government doesn't finance the entire investment, we hope it will allocate 70 to 80%, but we still need funds for the ineligible parts, which are those related to technical equipment, software, decoration, vegetable gardens, etc.", he reveals.

The Santa Maria da Feira City Council has already committed, however, to supporting the project, covering “50% of the non-participated value”.

As for the official name of the new daycare center, it has already been decided: in an allusion to who will benefit from the space and also to the vocabulary common in the medieval period when Feira Castle had its heyday, the educational establishment will be called "Infantes de Santa Maria".

The Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Santa Maria da Feira will build a daycare center for 78 children with services common to its seniors' home, announcing today that this investment should be around two million euros.

According to the aforementioned institution of the Aveiro district and Porto Metropolitan Area, the new facility aims to meet the growing demand for pre-school education for children up to 3 years old in the city of Feira. It will be built on land adjacent to the Lar S. Nicolau and will have shared areas with that structure, to guarantee an "intergenerational component".

"This issue of the relationship between the two age groups is very important, because having children and elderly people living together every day in the garden, for example, allows the youngest children to learn how to deal with the elderly, which will lead them to value them throughout their lives, and it also allows the home's users to face the days with a different spirit, because they have the joy of the children around" , explains Santa Casa's provider, Conceição Alvim Ferraz, to Lusa.

The daycare's architectural design has already been approved by the Social Security Institute – which, according to the Misericórdia's ombudsman, "considered it very disruptive and very modern" – and is now awaiting the opening of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security's competition for co-financing.

Santa Casa expects the work to be completed in 2026 and "start operating in September 2027".

The technical director of Lar S. Nicolau, Patrícia Rosado, admits that "there is some response in the region to the demand for daycare centers," but says that, thanks to "demographic changes in Feira, which has attracted more people due to the growth of its economic and industrial fabric, there are still many people who have nowhere to leave their children when they go to work and end up enrolling them in places outside the municipality."

"And the problem became worse with the free program established by the Government a few years ago" , he highlights.

The new daycare center will occupy approximately one hectare of land, encompassing a construction area of ​​approximately 1,462 square meters. It will also include a green strip on the banks of the Caster River, along the eco-path that runs alongside it, under a loan agreement with the municipality.

"Another very important component of the project is the environmental aspect, not only due to the connection to the walkway and the river, but also thanks to a vegetable garden and a sensory garden, where the 57 residents of the home will be able to work with the children," says Conceição Alvim Ferraz, indicating that these structures will be "adapted to both generations", including users in wheelchairs.

Services such as the kitchen, laundry, and administrative offices will be shared between the home and daycare, but the provider is still concerned about the costs of the project, which will create 14 new jobs.

"It's a very expensive project and, of the total amount needed, we have 20% in our own capital," he adds.

"Since the government doesn't finance the entire investment, we hope it will allocate 70 to 80%, but we still need funds for the ineligible parts, which are those related to technical equipment, software, decoration, vegetable gardens, etc.", he reveals.

The Santa Maria da Feira City Council has already committed, however, to supporting the project, covering “50% of the non-participated value”.

As for the official name of the new daycare center, it has already been decided: in an allusion to who will benefit from the space and also to the vocabulary common in the medieval period when Feira Castle had its heyday, the educational establishment will be called "Infantes de Santa Maria".

The Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Santa Maria da Feira will build a daycare center for 78 children with services common to its seniors' home, announcing today that this investment should be around two million euros.

According to the aforementioned institution of the Aveiro district and Porto Metropolitan Area, the new facility aims to meet the growing demand for pre-school education for children up to 3 years old in the city of Feira. It will be built on land adjacent to the Lar S. Nicolau and will have shared areas with that structure, to guarantee an "intergenerational component".

"This issue of the relationship between the two age groups is very important, because having children and elderly people living together every day in the garden, for example, allows the youngest children to learn how to deal with the elderly, which will lead them to value them throughout their lives, and it also allows the home's users to face the days with a different spirit, because they have the joy of the children around" , explains Santa Casa's provider, Conceição Alvim Ferraz, to Lusa.

The daycare's architectural design has already been approved by the Social Security Institute – which, according to the Misericórdia's ombudsman, "considered it very disruptive and very modern" – and is now awaiting the opening of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security's competition for co-financing.

Santa Casa expects the work to be completed in 2026 and "start operating in September 2027".

The technical director of Lar S. Nicolau, Patrícia Rosado, admits that "there is some response in the region to the demand for daycare centers," but says that, thanks to "demographic changes in Feira, which has attracted more people due to the growth of its economic and industrial fabric, there are still many people who have nowhere to leave their children when they go to work and end up enrolling them in places outside the municipality."

"And the problem became worse with the free program established by the Government a few years ago" , he highlights.

The new daycare center will occupy approximately one hectare of land, encompassing a construction area of ​​approximately 1,462 square meters. It will also include a green strip on the banks of the Caster River, along the eco-path that runs alongside it, under a loan agreement with the municipality.

"Another very important component of the project is the environmental aspect, not only due to the connection to the walkway and the river, but also thanks to a vegetable garden and a sensory garden, where the 57 residents of the home will be able to work with the children," says Conceição Alvim Ferraz, indicating that these structures will be "adapted to both generations", including users in wheelchairs.

Services such as the kitchen, laundry, and administrative offices will be shared between the home and daycare, but the provider is still concerned about the costs of the project, which will create 14 new jobs.

"It's a very expensive project and, of the total amount needed, we have 20% in our own capital," he adds.

"Since the government doesn't finance the entire investment, we hope it will allocate 70 to 80%, but we still need funds for the ineligible parts, which are those related to technical equipment, software, decoration, vegetable gardens, etc.", he reveals.

The Santa Maria da Feira City Council has already committed, however, to supporting the project, covering “50% of the non-participated value”.

As for the official name of the new daycare center, it has already been decided: in an allusion to who will benefit from the space and also to the vocabulary common in the medieval period when Feira Castle had its heyday, the educational establishment will be called "Infantes de Santa Maria".