Adoption by primary school saves charity pre-school

02 June 2009

A charity-run pre-school has been rescued on the brink of closure after being 'adopted' by a nearby primary school.

High rents and falling rolls meant that Birch Hill Pre-School inLeppington, Bracknell, Berkshire, which cares for 24 children betweenthe ages of two and four, could no longer cover its costs.

The pre-school was on the verge of having to make its five staffredundant when the headmaster of Birch Hill primary school, AlanHarding, stepped in to offer the use of a spare modular unit at theschool, which also has its own 52-place nursery for children between theages of three and five.

Jan Gasking, vice-chairman of Birch Hill Pre-School, said, 'Thepre-school was based in the local community centre for about 30 years.We began losing children when a lot of the local nurseries nearbystarted taking children at a younger age. It got to the point where wecould not afford to pay the rent and we were going to have to close.

'However, Mr Harding offered the use of a modular unit on the schoolgrounds and we now do not have to pay rent, just our utility bills.

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