Saved! Joy for day nursery

Rise and Shine Day Nursery, which is based at the front of Jack Hunt School in Ledbury Road, Netherton, was set to close last week after operating for 14 years.

However, a fortnight before the planned closure Jack Hunt informed Rise and Shine that it would extend its lease for another three years having previously given it notice to leave back in January 2016.

Day nursery manager Alison Holmes said: “It was very much on the 11th hour. We’ve lost some parents and staff and had to rebuild, but we want to let people know we are still here and we have space for parents.

“We are very excited.”

The day nursery has seen the number of children it looks after halve to 35 due to its planned closure, but it will now be open all summer.

And from September it will be offering 30 hours of free childcare for working parents under a government scheme.

Jack Hunt had been planning to use the day nursery premises to help it with the growing number of pupils attending the school.

The school’s governing body said it was pleased to have reached an agreement in principle with Rise and Shine to extend its lease.

It added: “As the nursery business was not able to source alternative premises during the 20 month notice period, and with the provision at risk, the governing body has stepped in to agree new favourable terms to allow the business to continue trading.”