The snow in January made for some challenging days for those of us in the south of England. At Busy Bees, our Hertfordshire and London nurseries struggled but continued to successfully provide a service for two days of unusual weather conditions.
The night the first snow came down had a major impact on many our nurseries. The weather made driving conditions hazardous and the roads very quickly became gridlocked. It then became a long night for everyone.
We soon realised we might have children and staff spending the night in the nurseries, so staff began organising refreshments for the children, from babies' bottles to something substantial to keep the older ones going. Beds and cots were made up, but in the end it was mainly the babies who fell asleep as the older children found the experience far too exciting to waste time sleeping.
Phone calls began coming in from anxious parents who were on their way but were stuck in the chaos. We were able to put their minds at rest by saying that the staff would be there for as long as needed, which I know really helped. The children had stories, played games, watched videos and generally enjoyed the one-off experience.
The staff, who had already worked a full day, continued to show the same loyalty and commitment they show during every day shift, even though many of them had families of their own to get home to. As the night wore on, stories were coming through to me of people really pulling together and helping each other out. A lot of staff that night and the following day gave up their time without even questioning it. We are proud to say they work for Busy Bees.
The nurseries finally started to see numbers dwindling, with the last child finally collected at 12.40am. The next day was just as testing, but still the staff made an effort to turn up for work, some having taken several hours to do so, knowing we still had to provide the best service that we could. I would like to say a huge 'Thank you' to all our staff teams who showed such dedication. We are proud to call them part of our team.
