Pre school closing...what can we do!?....

[Badvoc]

Not sure if this is the right place to be asking this but here goes...
My sons wonderful pre school is closing in July after being open in the village for 15 years.
Fewer children are attending (recession?), there are 2 other pre schools locally and they can no longer pay the bills (building rent etc)
It's a tragedy
It doesn't affect my son, as he goes up to reception in sept, but it's such a lovely pre school, and I feel so sorry for the staff and children who this will affect.
He deficit is not huge as I understand it, but it needs addressing obv.
What can we - as parents - do?
The manager has already tried re branding and promotion and more children have started recently but only 1 or 2 days.
It has a good ofsted report (recent) and excellent EYFS rating.
It is not currently a registered charity...should it be?
Is there anywhere we could apply for funding?
Help!

Who owns this pre-school (who employs the staff)?

The pre-school learning alliance provide lots of good information for free, and excellent services for member organisations that may help but if its a question of too few children to run a viable service closure may be unavoidable.

Thanks :(

I take it this is a private pre-school? It could be run as a community nursery, whereby the parents of the current students own it and run it - run it by being a committee - you would hire a manager to actually run it.

Definitely contact pre-school learning alliance - our nursery is a member and they are brilliant.

The problem is quite simple - the amount of money the government pays for 'free places' is simply not enough to run a nursery with. In our case we make a little extra with what we charge the 2 1/2 -3 year olds with - but nowhere near enough to cover the gap. We do a LOT of fundraising, apply for as many grants as possible, and at the moment the committee members are standing in when staff go on training to keep staffing costs down.

It might be possible to get a 'start up' grant from your local authority to help set up the nursery as a community nursery - but only if there is a need in the community. If the nursery currently is not a charity then they are under no obligation to pass the assets onto another pre-school - but you might be able to buy them for far less than they would cost new.

Our nursery is:

• a communitiy nursery
• in a village
• outstanding OFSTED rating
• run by an active committee
• fundraising in order to stay open

Our village helps a lot - and if there is village support for you it would be possible to hold a 'keep the nursery open' fundraising event - and get people to donate time/ goods/ expertise and you could make between £1,000 and £3,000 - but this should only be done if the nursery becomes charitable.

PM if you are serious, and I can give you some more info on how our nursery is run - I am responsible for fundraising.

Wow.
Thanks!
Will know more after the meeting on weds...may well pm you, thank you.
I know that a CM in the village did look into taking it over, but felt it wasn't financially viable.
I have been wondering what to do once my son starts school in sept....maybe this is it?...
Ofsted rating is good.
It is not - yet - a registered charity. I feel this might help?

Being a registered charity helps, not only for tax reasons, but because people view the nursery differently, and are more willing to put themselves out to help.

I will PM you some basic details that may help you in your discussions/decision making on Wednesday.

How about seeing if you can take funded two-year-olds. This will boost numbers and help out families in need too.

Thanks so much diyapprentice
Currently the PS rents its space from the primary school.
I am unsure whether this can continue, and if it can't, the next logical step IMO would be a church hall...there are 2 in the village that are possibles.
I know of another PS in the village that uses the village hall so I know it can be done.
The ins and outs of applying for registered charity status would be appreciated!
I know I very little about fund raising (as I am sure you have gathered!) but was thinking of a save our pre school campaign if some sort.
I have e mailed the lottery big fund too.
It's only a mid sized village and local businesses aren't always that good at supporting things.
I wonder if I should approach the parish council?
Surely less childcare provision is a bad thing?

Our village is a one church, one infant school, one nursery, village, so we're very small! But the businesses in the nearby towns have been pretty good. The trick is not to ask too much from any one business - and to make it something that they can give easily.

Have PMed you, hope it is useful. Please feel free to PM me back.