Inauguration of the new Consultorio at the Istituto degli Innocenti

The Consultorio, an important centre for women's health but also for young people, families and couples, is returning to the Istituto degli Innocenti. This health and well-being centre - inaugurated on 8 March, a date that was not randomly chosen as it employs concrete actions the focus on women - resumes its dialogue with the city and its inhabitants ten years after it was closed down. It was in 2013, in fact, that the Consultorio was shut after being in the Institute since the 1970s.

This project, resulting from the collaboration between Asl Toscana Centro and the Florentine institution, was also strongly supported by the Municipality of Florence and the Region of Tuscany. The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Region of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, the Regional Councillor for the Right to Health, Simone Bezzini, the Director of Asl Toscana Centro, Paolo Morello Marchese, the Chairwoman of the Istituto degli Innocenti, Maria Grazia Giuffrida, and the Municipal Councillor for Welfare and Health, Sara Funaro.

"We are pleased to be able to open today an additional space for services for children, young people, women and parents. The Istituto degli Innocenti has always been at the service of children and families in the broadest sense of the term. We work daily on several fronts to guarantee the rights and well-being of that part of society that represents the future: children and young people," said the Chairwoman of the Istituto degli Innocenti, Maria Grazia Giuffrida.

The Consultorio's activities will start on 9 March with health services for women, including women from other countries, young people, families and couples. The centre will not only be a place for health prevention and promotion, with the possibility of receiving health services, but will also offer counselling, listening services and support to specific health pathways. There will also be a Consultorio Giovani for young people, while expectant mothers will be able to attend antenatal classes in a large and welcoming space.

The Consultorio also plans to work on parenting support, organising shared activities and meetings in synergy with the experimental and free educational service for children and families Crescere insieme (Growing together), a project promoted by the Region of Tuscany and the Institute as part of the activities of the Regional Documentation Centre for Childhood and Adolescence and part of the overall offer of the 0-6 Innocenti Centre for Childhood.

The opening of this centre further strengthens the network of Tuscan consultori, characterised by strong roots in the areas and districts they cover.

The Consultorio - based on the ground floor of the Institute in a building next to the Giardino Grande (Great Garden), with an entrance from Piazza Santissima Annunziata, 13 - is open from Monday to Friday at following opening times: Monday from 8.30am to 6pm; Tuesday from 8.30am to 2pm (from 1 April until 6pm); Wednesday from 8.30am to 2pm (from May until 4.30pm); Thursday from 8am to 6.30pm; Friday from 8am to 1.30pm.