Much-loved North Devon pre-school saved but ‘isn’t out of the woods yet’

An amazing community fundraising effort has ensured the much-loved Berrynarbor Pre-school was able to reopen its doors again after half term and saved it on the brink of closure.

But while a brilliant 11th hour bid to urgently raise money by parents, the community and staff has gathered some £18,000 and has meant the pre-school can stay open, it still needs to raise around £15,000 more to secure its future.

Two weeks ago, parents at an emergency meeting were stunned to hear the pre-school, which has served generations of villagers for more than 40 years, was almost certain to close unless £9,000 could be found in a week.

READ NEXT: North Devon villagers launch 11th hour appeal as beloved pre-school faces closure

The sudden cash crisis related to an alleged misappropriation of funds and is now the subject of a police investigation. No further details are available at this stage.

Parents were not willing to let it close and immediately vowed to launch a fundraising drive, which saw a wonderful community response.

At the deadline meeting on Tuesday, October 28, people were delighted to discover the pre-school could reopen after half term, but the fundraising will continue.

The pre-school is back open this week at its normal week day times of 8am to 4pm.

The community rose to the appeal, with a GoFundMe page set up by parent Charlotte Jones now standing at almost £7,500, plus local businesses offered to stage events or donate proceeds from sales and a range of community events such as a disco, yoga and bingo night were held at the Manor Hall.

Speaking to the North Devon Gazette today (Monday, November 3), pre-school committee chair Lee Cox said they had raised around £18,000 to date from all the different fundraising strands.

He added: “That’s via the GoFundMe page, along with the fundraising the parents did initially, plus other funding that came from local events.

“The amazing thing was the atmosphere at those events, it almost felt unbelievable what was happening, because they really came together and it was such a positive vibe.

“We are not completely out of the woods yet, we have enough to operate but we don’t have an emergency fund now if things go wrong, so we are trying to build that back up and still need another £14,000 to 15,000 to try and secure it, so our next objective is to do that.”

As well as events at the Manor Hall, there was a village Halloween Pumpkin Competition that had many entries and raised £150. Plus Sandy Cove Hotel hosted three days of cream teas with all proceeds going to the pre-school, The Bent Peg donated £5 from every Sunday lunch sold on October 26 and Hele Bay Pub raised £120 with a quiz, while Belgrave Hair Studio raised £70.

On A Hill Garage at Lynton Cross is donating a portion of every MOT fee to the pre-school on all MOTs booked before December 19, as well as running a Christmas giveaway of bundle prizes.

Berrynarbor Pre-school still has vacancies and availability on all week days for children aged from 18 months old to school age. There is no geographical limit on its catchment area. If you would like to find out more or sign you child up, please go to https://www.berrynarborpreschool.org

Berrynarbor Pre-school still needs to raise money – if you can help, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-our-village-preschool-a-lifeline-for-generations

To keep up to date with future events for the appeal, visit the Berrynarbor Pre-school Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/berrynarborpreschool