Nursery asking for donations?

[Bbrdakija]

My 2 year old son is going to this nursery for two years now and in the past couple of months, me and my husband have been receiving this email from the manager asking for donations ( washing tablets, toilet tissues, nappies, etc) and we have to put our name. I just thought why do we need to donate when we are paying a full amount every month as my son is not yet eligible for free childcare. Do other nurseries ask for donations as well??

[DinoGreen]

No this is not normal in my experience, those are basics which you are paying for already. The only donations my DS’s nursery has ever asked for are things like old unwanted computer equipment (keyboards and phones etc) for the children to play pretend offices with and when they were doing up the garden and they asked if anyone had any old pallets etc which they could use. That sort of asking for donations is ok in my book, your nursery’s kind is not!

[Mysterian]

Sounds like they can't make ends meet. They may close soon. Start looking for somewhere else.

[Greggers2017]

It's the government funding that is causing more and more nurseries to do this. The amount given by the government does not cover all overheads and staffs wages. I know I used to run a nursery and I had to sell due to not making enough money. Sign of the times unfortunately.

[WelcomeToGreenvale]

You don't need to if you don't want to. They're asking because they have no other choice. Your setting is desperate. There isn't enough money and they are having to sacrifice resources for your children in favour of basics like cleaning items and nappies. In time that will become sacrificing staff, and after that, closure.

That's what the government is doing to early years settings.

[bananaskinsnomnom]

It’s not normal and yes you are paying for that already.

Sadly, like others have said, the high fees you are paying are covering the severe lack of funding coming from the government. So even after everyone pays, the funding leaves a gap and something has to give. I agree if your nursery are having to ask for these I would listen to the warning bells. It may improve. How full is the nursery?

We ask for donations of things like junk modelling items, old electrical items, old kitchen items for the mud kitchen ....admittedly in the last couple of years this has extended to openly asking for unloved toys and books - because things break, resources are bloody expensive and money is tightening.

Last year our owner got rid of the cleaner to save money. So the staff have to do a full clean while the children are in in the last hour.
There is now talk about removing the kitchen, so make the cook redundant and make everyone bring in packed lunches (for 3 meals a day......awful idea in my opinion) - alternative being still getting rid of the cook but having the staff cook (somehow whilst looking after children) or completely eliminating the cost of food from fees and charging every meal as extra on top and making children provide their own snacks. From the new year they will definitely have to bring in their own snacks.

I’ve seen the books for ours. Minimum wage is going up (which tbh means everyones wage has to rise because most staff are on minimum wage or slightly above depending on responsibility) pension is rising, a lot of our staff are hitting the upper age range for minimum wage, food costs are going up along with the bills, training is so expensive and there are so many compulsory training courses which is missed will certainly at best bring an Ofsted rating down (first aid being the priciest but the most vital)..but the funding levels are remaining too low and not rising at all.

Our local collaboration is considering a collective pull out of the 30 hours (all of the nurseries / preschools part of it are independent or very small chain) - essentially to save each other. If one nursery pulls out of providing 30 hours parents will just up and leave. If we all collectively agree not to provide it and therefore all the nurseries in the town and surrounding villages have no 30 hour providers, in theory parents won’t have as much of an option. Or of course the big chain will just gobble us all up. It’s bloody awful to have to think like that. I’m worried for my nursery.

I think you should maybe ask some questions and look a bit deeper op. They could simply be very tight financially and prioritising training and resources and staff, but if they are struggling with the basics it’s concerning.

[Thehop]

Were a small private nursery, only 30 places and mixed private/funded places. Our shortfall on funding is about £700 a month. The early years funding will close us down eventually

[Fandabydosey]

Are they doing an educational thing where they are donating to less well off families? Are they making up gift boxes to donate to develop children's empathy? Is it a harvest festival project?

Nurseries + govenment funding = nursery closure
Nurseries + funding + donations = staying open

Yes your child is not funded yet but the law states nurseries are not allowed to ask for the short fall in funding. The funding is set way below what it actually costs for a child to attend a setting. The lack of proper funding in nurseries is a massive problem. Nurseries are closing down weekly, unable to go on due to lack of money and growing costs. They have to make the books balance somehow. Donate or don't donate that is your choice, same as asking for donations or putting fees up is the nursery's choice.

[insancerre]

Nurseries are closing down because of the shortfall in the funding
Please watch this
m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zm-mYA6XpQ

[Bbrdakija]

Thanks everybody for your replies! Now i understand. We did donate a little bit even if we are paying the full amount.