From Toddler Group to Children's Centre

 

 

The Charity was started in 2004 when the pre-school moved into its own purpose built building in the grounds of the local primary school. We are open from 8 am until 6 pm each day for 50 weeks per year, and are registered to offer 6 places for children aged

0 – 2 years, 16 places for 2 -3 year olds and 32 places for 3 – 5 year olds. Also we run breakfast, afterschool, and holiday clubs for children up to the age of 8 years old.

 

We employ 14 members of staff including a cleaner. The staff although not all Christians, we do employ a Muslim lady, knows that we are managed by a Christian Charity and that we are run on Christian principles.

 

In 1982 mums attending Queensway Chapel Toddler group of which I was a member approached the Leadership team of the Chapel and asked if a playgroup could be started in the Church Hall as there was no group in the Queensway area of the town. The Leadership agreed and my friend and I, who were both teachers then at home looking after young children agreed to run it. Some of the mums agreed to come and help us and it has always been the philosophy of the group to encourage parental involvement and still is. The playgroup was run as part of the chapel’s outreach activities and has always been surrounded by prayer and support from the chapel members. Not all parents who helped us were Christians but through the witness and friendship of the Christian staff and the members of chapel a number of those came to know the Lord. Many of the mum helpers returned to work and some took up work in childcare. 3 of the mums who helped in those early days are still working with us and have gained their NVQ 3 in Childcare and education.

 

The playgroup grew over the years and we extended the opening hours till eventually we were open from 9 am – 4 pm each day, term time only.

 

About 8 years ago at one of the playgroup management group meetings we were asked to pray about the way forward as we had been approached by the local school to move into some of their old mobile classrooms. Enquiries were made and over a number of months ideas were developed and plans made. Then Wiltshire County Council asked us if we would like to put in a tender to run a Neighbourhood Nursery in our own purpose built building in the grounds of the local primary school. After much prayer and thought we agreed and began to make plans. There was a great deal of prayer, heartache, and sleepless nights put in over the next few years especially when it came to fund raising and applying for grants, but in April 2004 Queensway Chapel pre-school moved into the new building. Not only had the playgroup changed its name to pre-school but other changes had taken place. The pre-school became a charity in its own right. As a company limited by guarantee we have a membership which mainly consists of people who worship at Queensway Chapel. This membership elects Trustees who manage the group and myself as manager and my staff are responsible for the day to day management of the group.

 

Although no longer physically part of Queensway Chapel we still have very strong links. One of these is a close working relationship with the Toddler group which was mentioned at the beginning of this article which has now developed into a Family Centre. The Centre runs a Toddler Group, Stay and Play sessions, Chill Out sessions and a Tots Praise. All these activities support the local community especially families with children under 5 years of age. A befriending service was also set up by the Family Centre and they get referrals from Social Services, Health Visitors and parents can refer themselves. All of these activities meet the family support criteria proposed by Sure Start for ‘Children’s Centres’. During 2005 Wiltshire County Council Head of Sure Start approached the Trustees of the pre-school to see if we would apply to become a Children’s Centre. The members of the charity and the prayer groups which were set up to support the Charity prayed about this approach. After many meetings with the Family Centre management committee and discussions with representatives from the local authority we applied and became a Children’s Centre in October 2006.

 

Our Contract with Wiltshire County Council to run as a Children’s Centre comes to an end in March 2008; we were informed last week that we will be asked to tender again for a new Contract to run the Children’s Centre for a further three years. We will receive the tender documents in July and they need to be completed by the end of September this year. I am due to retire from my role as Pre-school and Children’s Centre manager in March 2008 so whoever is appointed in my place will have the responsibility of moving the project forward.

 

We praise the Lord for his guidance and direction over the last 25 years on what has been from my point of view a great adventure. We also ask for his guidance and leadership for the future.

 

Ann Arnold

Pre-school and Children’s Centre Manager

01225 351922