Nursery World - Iconic nursery school Coram faces closure amid rent hike and accuses namesake charity of abandoning it

One of England’s oldest and most renowned nursery schools is facing closure because the charity that originally helped to set it up plans to double its rent and cut its provision in half.

Thomas Coram is regarded as a pioneering nursery school and centre of early years excellence PHOTO Thomas Coram Nursery School

Coram – the oldest children’s charity in the country – helped to create the Thomas Coram pioneering early years centre, which was the backdrop for the launch of Sure Start by Tony Blair and the Labour government in 1998.

Trustees at the maintained nursery school say that it is being forced out by Coram, which is the landlord and freeholder, and that it has not been given an explanation as to why the charity wants to steeply increase the rent it charges Camden Council and cut the nursery’s indoor space, that could lead to a loss of half of the 150 nursery places, as well as reclaim the nursery garden.

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