The Fund's Building Neighbourhood Nurseries programme has awarded grants totalling 154,094 in Herefordshire, Newcastle and Bolton to renovate and construct new neighbourhood nurseries.
NOF chair Baroness Jill Pitkeathley said, 'The grants we're announcing today reflect the value of building nurseries which are essential to increasing good childcare provision.'
The NOF has allocated 85m to the neighbourhood nurseries programme with the aim of providing childcare provision in disadvantaged areas to help parents return to work or training. The NOF will provide grants for capital expenditure such as new buildings, refurbishment and equipment. Projects which have been awarded revenue funding under the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative and endorsed by their local EYDCP will be eligible to apply for a NOF grant.
In Newcastle the Nursery Partnership is converting and furnishing a former police station and residential property into a nursery facility funded by an NOF award of 45,085. It will provide 59 childcare places in an area lacking in provision.
Fifty new childcare places will be created by a grant of 81,260 to the Brightstart Nursery in Bolton. A two-storey extension, which will include a sensory room and a drama studio, is being added to the premises.
Little Acorns Nursery in Kingstone, Hertfordshire, has been awarded Pounds 27,249 to create an additional 36-place nursery. The project involves renovating a doctor's surgery as well as the purchase of a minibus to provide transport for isolated rural families.
