North East Nursery funded hours

[SquishyOlive]

Anyone in the North East using the 'free' government funded hours only? My daughter will be starting next September for one full day a week, so we're looking to get her booked somewhere fairly soon. We already have a space saved in our preferred nursery but I'm wanting to potentially shop about. The space we have saved is at a nursery very close to home so it's ideal for pick up and drop off and if we needed to get to her fast. Its also close to work so perfect location really. What I didn't realise is with the government funded hours we still had to pay a daily charge that covers food, nappies, trips out, additional activities etc. I want my daughter to be involved in all the additional activities, but £18 a day feels like a lot especially when we don't have a lot of money to spare. (Though, as she is not starting for a year this gives us time to save up.) Apparently pack lunches and own food isn't allowed due to allergies of other kids which is fair, and the nursery menu actually looks amazing.
Is there anyone in the North Tyneside area that has any recommendations for nurseries with cheaper daily fees? Unfortunately anywhere further afield would be too difficult to get to.

I'm West Midlands but I would expect that everywhere will have additional fees as the government funding isn't enough to cover nurseries' costs. How old is your child? Once they're old enough to go to a school pre-school you can find ones that are truly 'free' but that's because they only do school hours during term time. Before that everywhere will likely ask for a top up and restrict which hours are 'free'. Hopefully others can advise on whether £18 a day is the norm in the NE.

Thanks for your reply. This is our first bubba so this is all new to us and finding out what we're entitled to plus additional costs of things is quite difficult. She will only be going for 1 year, then on to normal school after that. Its likely we'll stick with our preferred one as the location is perfect, but I just wanted to get a feel for what prices people are generally paying and if there were any other nurseries worth checking out.

It's a minefield when it's your first! I'd definitely expect a top up fee of some kind, you may get cheaper elsewhere. If you're on any local Facebook groups for parents maybe have a search for if anyone else has asked for nursery recommendations, that could be a good place to start!

It's £27 a day where I am (midlands). It shouldn't be called free hours it should be called funded because in many cases it isn't free. Many nurseries where I am need to charge to make up the shortfall as they aren't getting enough from the government.