Coronavirus: Bridgnorth nursery open for children of key workers
A nursery in Bridgnorth is keeping its doors open for the children of key workers.
Little Greenhouse Nursery in Low Town is opening three days a week to help those on the frontline battling the spread of coronavirus.
While the company's other settings in Claverley and Bobbington have closed, the nursery in Mill Street continues to care for a handful of youngsters on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and has changed its operation to ensure the health and safety of staff and children.
Hannah Vyse, managing director, said the nursery is keen to do its bit for the community and would like to hear from any key worker looking for child care.
"We have made the decision to remain open three days a week at our Bridgnorth setting in order to provide essential nursery care for the younger children of people in key jobs during this enormously difficult time,” she said.
“We have temporarily closed our settings at Claverley and Bobbington but decided to keep Bridgnorth open to help parents needing to work.
“We are currently looking after a number of our regular children but will happily welcome newcomers.”
The team of 25 practitioners across the three nurseries has reduced to a small handful of staff who volunteered to be based in Bridgnorth.
Hannah added: "It is difficult and the team are fully aware of the situation. Very early on we stopped parents and visitors from coming into the nursery and we've increased our cleaning, which was already very thorough, and we also clean high level contact points which are touched throughout the day more frequently.
"The team and parents keep to a two-metre distance but with the children it is inevitably different. We are with children aged zero to five so we obviously have to help and support feeding them, changing them and if they're upset or want a cuddle the team will never refuse that. While they're in our care we are and have to remain the care-giver to them.
"The team also don't come to work in their uniform and then they remove it and wash that uniform when they leave so it is only ever worn during the day inside the nursery."
Hannah said that being outdoors has remained a high priority and extra outdoor equipment has been purchased for both staff and the children.
She added: "Last week we were getting to the point where we thought we may have to close, as our setting is big and should hold many more children than we currently are.
"But our team has been absolutely fantastic and has been as creative as possible with keeping the children entertained and we want to try and stay open to support the key workers on the frontline as much as possible."
Any key workers looking for nursery care can contact Hannah and her staff via facebook or by calling 01746765766.
Shropshire Council is also providing a helpline for key workers looking for child care outside of Bridgnorth on 03456789008.
