HAMILTON will soon have its after-school care program back, with a new provider set to take over from the start of term two.

The town had been without an after-school care provider for most of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but YMCA Ballarat will take over the program once students return to school after the Easter holidays later this month.

The program will run daily at Gray Street Primary School, with the program registered for up to 30 students at a time.

Program director, Elvia Jenkins said YMCA Ballarat was excited to be expanding its service into Hamilton.

“There’s no other after school care providers in Hamilton at the moment and parents have been calling for it to come back,” she said.

“(Gray Street Primary School principal) Ben Kelson got in contact with us to take over as the approved provider of after-school care in Hamilton before Christmas and it’s taken a long time to get it sorted, but we’re excited to start from term two.

“The Ballarat Y already runs over three regions – Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat, where we have five services, and the Grampians, which includes Ararat, Portland and now Hamilton.

“Hamilton fits in really nicely with our other services, so we’re looking forward to supporting the Hamilton community with our after-school care program.”

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