Peterborough nursery group celebrates 40 years in business

A special party took place at Stepping Stones Day Nursery in Dogsthorpe on Wednesday (June 1) with children and nursery staff alike.

Stepping Stones was started 40 years ago by Janet Baker and Kay Nichol and over the years has run nurseries in Gatenby in Werrington, Stanground, Fletton as well as the current site in Dogsthorpe.

The Dogsthorpe nursery is currently the only one in the group and has built a strong reputation and family over the years with a number of staff serving over 20 and 30 years at the nursery.

Currently, there is a team of just under 20 members of staff with hundreds passing through the door over the years.

The nursery in Dogsthorpe first opened in 2000 and cares for around 50 children at one time, from babies right up to just before children start school.

Such is the love fostered for the nursery, some of the children in attendance today are children of parents who attended the nursery themselves when it first opened.

Janet said: “We were very young when we opened our first nursery. We both had our children young and wanted childcare but couldn’t find it. The nursery I was working for closed so we decided to do it ourselves.

“We thought it would be for a couple of years while our children were young but here we are still going after all there years.

“Once we got going and there were so few nurseries in Peterborough, we found a real demand.

“”It it really lovely to see parents who were here as children bringing their children to us, we’re at the stage where we are worried we may even get grandchildren of those coming through the door!

“There has been a lot of big changes in childcare over the years but it is still about providing a nurturing environment with love and care for the children and that has never changed. So much is still the same in that way.”