Rundown little 'treasure' of a preschool appeals for help to revamp its garden for children to play in Milton Keynes

A popular preschool is trying to raise £300 to improve its sad-looking garden.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The charity-run Shenley Church End Preschool was looking very run down and in need of a revamp after 30 years of use.

Already the nearby leisure centre has helped improve the inside of the building, and they've had the playroom decorated and a new kitchen fitted.

But with the warmer weather coming, the concrete slabbed garden is badly in need of some TLC And a fundraising page has been set up here to raise the cash to pay for the project.

The garden needs a revampThe garden needs a revamp
The garden needs a revamp

"We work with the best that we have right now, unfortunately though there has been very limited time, resources or funding to revamp and improve our small garden space," state the page.

"It's a very old garden and has been well used. It is in desperate need of being done up so our children can benefit from using it. Our resources are run down, storage is broken and it looks sad. We are working over the Easter holidays to do what we can but it breaks our hearts we cannot replace the existing equipment and add better features."

It adds: "After Easter we have even more children joining our ever growing setting and we would absolutely love to provide a bright and colourful garden with resources that will bring extra learning and play opportunities to all of our little people.

"The garden itself has great potential and we hope to be able to provide better resources such as a bigger mud kitchen or some planters to add some life. But to get there we desperately need the help and generosity of our community to get started. "

The children are making do with limited resourcesThe children are making do with limited resources
The children are making do with limited resources

Jodie O'Grady recently took over as manager of the preschool, which she describes as a "real local treasure" in the community.

"Since the pandemic hit, the girls working here have worked so incredibly hard, making huge positive changes for our special little school all whilst providing a safe and happy place for our little ones to learn and play," she said.

"Our preschool has been in the community for over 30years, and with new management, we are really excited to give it some much needed colour and vibrancy.

"We are appealing for donations to help continue our revamp and improvement of the garden. We would love to make this an engaging outdoor space for the children to enjoy over the warmer months. Your kind donation would be greatly appreciated to support the amazing work our staff are already doing to make our little school a real local treasure.

"If you cannot donate financially but would like to help, we'd love to hear from you. Perhaps you have some bedding plants, garden equipment or compost you can donate?"

Anybody who can help can contact the preschool here or through the Shenley Church End Preschool page on Facebook.

Related topics: