A GORLESTON pre-school can look forward to celebrating its 40th anniversary next year after coming within a whisker of being forced to close this summer.
A GORLESTON pre-school can look forward to celebrating its 40th anniversary next year after coming within a whisker of being forced to close this summer.
Only a successful late bid for a £1,200 Lottery grant saved the day for the Lowestoft Road Methodist Pre-School.
“It's been a nightmare year as we had to provide a secure outdoor area for children to play as part of the new Ofsted requirements,” said pre-school supervisor Susan Stewart.
They had to negotiate to use a piece of land owned by the Methodist Church, find volunteers to clear it and then pay for a substantial fence to make it secure.
She said: “I fully agree with the idea of children playing outside more. We should support it. But at first it didn't look as though we would get the land and then we couldn't afford the fence.
“I thought we would close this summer which would have been so sad. There has been a playgroup here since in 1969.”
In the end, a grant from the Lottery's Awards for All saved the day.
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