Nursery promising high quality child care and family support set to expand
(From left to right) Bonnie Brinkley, deputy manager at Jelly Tots Nursery, with Ana Ribeiro, owner, and Vicky Robinson, manager, at the Children’s Centre, in Kingsway, Thetford. Photo: Emily Thomson - Credit: Emily Thomson
A children’s centre which has stood empty for six months is set to reopen and be taken over by another provider.
(From left to right) Vicky Robinson, manager of Jelly Tots Nursery with Bonnie Brinkley, deputy manager and Jelly Tots owner Ana Ribeiro at the Children's Centre in Kingsway where they will be relocating one of their nurseries. Photo: Emily Thomson - Credit: Emily Thomson
Jelly Tots Nursery in Thetford is set to expand as plans for its relocation are confirmed.
Currently located on Whitehart Street, the nursery will be moving to a purpose-built facility at Norfolk County Council's Sure Start children's centre in Kingsway in February next year.
Previously occupied by Treetops nursery for almost 15 years, the community was left devastated when it was closed in April and parents were forced to look for child care elsewhere. The nursery has sat empty ever since.
But the new occupants say they are thrilled to bring the much-needed services back to the area and provide support for Thetford families.
The nursery garden at the Children's Centre in Kingsway, Thetford, which will soon be occupied by Jelly Tots. Photo: Emily Thomson - Credit: Emily Thomson
Vicky Robinson, manager at Jelly Tots, said: "Norfolk County Council got in touch with child care providers in Thetford offering this fantastic space and they asked us to create a presentation showing what we could offer to the community and we found out we won in October.
"We are not just a nursery and we are not just a day care centre. It's not just a case of dropping your child off - we are there to support parents and the whole family."
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The new facility will mean the nursery will have around 75 places for children in the community, offering a bigger and safer space, a large garden for outdoor activities and a kitchen to cook snacks and meals.
Along with its nursery at the Charles Burrell Centre, Jelly Tots will be working closely with Norfolk County Council and the Early Childhood and Family Service, which is also located at the Kingsway site.
Ana Ribeiro, owner of Jelly Tots, said: "We will be working in close contact with the Early Childhood and Family services and their health services. We want to make sure that any parent who needs help has access to the correct professional."
They also plan to introduce computer facilities for parents to access benefit and government funding applications to help with child care.
Bonnie Brinkley, deputy manager, who worked at Treetops nursery for 12 years, said: "It's amazing to see this facility open again. There are so many families on this estate that don't really have high quality child care on their door step and not everyone drives. So this is really positive for them."
