A FUNDRAISING page set up to help keep a preschool in Stanpit Marsh has received a lot of support from the community, raising £600 within a day.

Pre-School On The Marsh are partially re-opening next week for vulnerable children and school leavers, but due to the low numbers of children expected to attend and the amount of furloughed employees, the preschool is expected to run at a loss.

Having convinced the building owners to agree to a renovation of the much loved, and well used, garden area, their hopes have been dashed due to the cancellation of all fundraising activities this year.

Laura Hemmingsley, a parent at Pre-School On The Marsh for almost three years, said: “We are also devastated about this on a personal level as the father’s day events, sports day and Easter egg hunt are such amazing events, where the staff put an outstanding amount of effort and creativity into making them a success.

“Due to the lack of grants because of it being a rented building, most of the staff are still furloughed and will be until they can run at full capacity again because they just can't afford to run normally through non-fee paying children.”

The preschool have also suffered multiple break ins and thefts of their forest school equipment over the past year or so, including a few during lockdown, which has contributed to further financial difficulties.

With three out of the preschools’ four fundraising events cancelled, the garden project is unlikely to go ahead unless they raise the £2,000 shortfall.

Laura set up a GoFundMe page in order to help raise money for the preschool and has already received a good response, having raised over half of her £1,000 target within 24 hours.

She added: “The Pre-School staff have always gone above and beyond to support us and all the families within our community.

“We feel like the staff are a second family and Pre-School is such a huge part of our lives.”

To donate to the fundraising campaign, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/fundraiser-to-support-preschool-on-the-marsh?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link-tip.