Nursery World - On the map (3)

The first private nursery chains are taking steps into the new Neighbourhood Nurseries scheme for disadvantaged areas. Anne Wiltsher reports The 108-place Jigsaw nursery in Portsmouth, one of the pioneer Neighbourhood Nurseries that the Government will be working with in its scheme of the same name, is on the main route into the city centre. In an area officially defined as 'disadvantaged', it is also close to a major IBM office development and a general hospital.

The 108-place Jigsaw nursery in Portsmouth, one of the pioneer Neighbourhood Nurseries that the Government will be working with in its scheme of the same name, is on the main route into the city centre. In an area officially defined as 'disadvantaged', it is also close to a major IBM office development and a general hospital.

Jigsaw's chief executive, Tom Shea, says, 'One of the exciting areas of discovery as we explored the options of working in disadvantaged areas was that they were sometimes congruent with local demands for development and development opportunities.'

Working with Jigsaw, the Government is now hoping to unlock new employment possibilities with local employers around the Portsmouth nursery and offer subsidised nursery places for local parents who want to enrol on training courses.

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