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Mells Nursery's new home
On 17th April 2007, Mells Nursery opened the doors of a brand new building right next door to Mells First School. The setting has a capacity of up to 22 children.
Phone 01373 813978 and talk to Ella Talbot or Freddy Clayton or download the Prospectus on our home page.
The following page contains the press reports and a log of the fundraising and building processes of the new Nursery building.
Last Updated 3rd April 2008
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26th February 2007 16th February 2007
26th January 2007
16th January 2007
5th January 2007 26th December 2006
6th December 2006
22nd November 2006
14th November 2006 4th November 2006
18th October 2006
13th October 2006
3rd October 2006
How can you help?
Even as we near the completion of the new nursery building, we still need further help to round it off. We have to get some office and kitchen equipment for the staff office. We also need equipment for the outside play areas, not to mention a rubberised surface for the hard play area itself.
- Last year we had a huge success on Daffodil Day, raising nearly £2,800 for the new building . This time, on April 9th, we will again be in Mells Barn for the Easter Monday Fayre. Our world famous tea and sandwich stall will be running in the barn itself with locally grown Clavey's Farm sausage & burger baps available from the barbecue in the car park. In the barn field the drinks bar will be serving wine and beer. Volunteers are needed to help on the stalls, to make cakes and sandwiches and to sell raffle tickets. If you are able to spare an hour or two on the day, can donate a prize for the raffle or help in any other way, please get in touch with Andrew Roberts on 01373 814768
- sponsorship from your business or company.
- donating via Gift Aid. As a charity, Mells Nursery is registered with HM Government in order to claim back basic rate income tax on donations. Go here for further information from HMRC about Gift Aid donations and here for a calculator for higher rate tax payers. The Gift Aid Declaration form can be downloaded from here.
If you can help in any way, please contact us on mellsnursery@btinternet.com or at the school on 01373 812380
Fund-Raising
Fund-raising for the new building is complete!! (21st September 2006)
The total funds raised currently stand at just under £200,000*. Of this, approximately £12,300 has been raised through events and private donations.
The main funders are as follows:
Somerset County Council Early Years capital grant £62,251 DEFRA £32,454 Mells & Vobster Community Trust £27,500 Whatley Common Good Trust £25,000 Somerset Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund £20,000 The Garfield Weston Foundation £10,000
The trustees and building committee extend our gratitude to the boards and committees of all the above for their generosity in awarding grants to this project.
We have now been given, or pledged, enough funds to complete the project. Mells Nursery will be housed in our new building by the beginning of the next summer term.
(*This figure includes £9750 that was given by the Somerset Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund and spent in preliminary stages of this project. )
PlanningProgress
Our original architects, White Design, submitted plans to Planning Dept. at Mendip District Council in January and planning was officially approved, with conditions, on 11th March.
Link to 1st Planning Application on Mendip District Council website Following changes to the design of the roof, our new architects, NVB of Frome, have completed new drawings and have resubmitted them to Mendip Council (see link above). Planning permission was approved, with conditions, on 10th August. Link to 2nd Planning Application for latest progress You can download the latest drawings through the following links: plans, elevations and site plans, respectively. (updated 21/09/06) Press & Funding progress Frome & Somerset Standard 5 April 2007 Frome & Somerset Standard 8 March 2007 Frome & Somerset Standard 7 December 2006 Groundwork began on site 2/10/06 Hanson in the Community has very generously donated aggregate to the nursery project. This will give a substantial saving on the agreed contract price and will give us a contingency for the unexpected. 20/9/06 A group of staff, parents and children along with members of the committee and Headmaster David Clayton were photographed on the building site by the local press. 8/09/06 Frome & Somerset Standard 14 September 2006 A misunderstanding at DEFRA meant that their award was reduced to £32,454. Also, unforeseen material costs meant that the reduced funds were now only sufficient for the smaller scheme. 31/08/06 Planning permission was given on the 10th August. Following a mysterious return of funds to their coffers, DEFRA have confounded us all and have awarded the project £40,000. This puts us well over our target!(!) However, the size and scope of the new building had been reduced in the last two months in order to try to reduce the overall cost. It is now possible to go ahead with the building in its original size. 28/07/06 An application to the Whatley Common Good Trust for further funding has also been successful. They previously pledged £20,000 and have very generously added a further £5000 to that figure. 25/07/06 We would like to thank the Mells & Vobster Community Trust who have pledged a further £7,500 towards the final shortfall. This is on top of the £20,000 that they previously gave to the building fund. 21/07/06 The application to Somerset County Council for an Early Years Sure Start capital grant was successful. The nursery was awarded £62,251. 13/07/06 Following an appeal to HMRC, the new building has been given VAT-exempt status, saving well over £30,000 on the total cost of the project. This decision has implications to all charity-run nurseries nationwide. 30/06/06 Frome & Somerset Standard 13 July 2006 Quotes from builders are coming in far higher than we had expected. 14/06/06 We had expected to receive a grant from DEFRA for £40,000 but have heard that most of their funding had been withdrawn by Central Government. 18/05/06 The Ralph and Irma Sperring Charity in Midsomer Norton have awarded £2000 for furniture for the new nursery. This grant came soon after the Sufficiency grant of £1500 given by Somerset County Council in March for cycles and other play equipment. Frome Lottery has awarded Mells Nursery £500 towards the new building fund. Sam Clarke, Joanna Plimmer and Freddy Clayton attended the presentation in the Assembly Rooms in Frome on 25th May to receive the cheque. Frome & Somerset Standard 20 April 2006 DAFFODIL DAY at Mells Barn A huge success - thanks due to everybody who made cakes and sandwiches. Many people helped at the several stalls for much of the day contributing enormously to the success. Special mentions to Dave Plimmer who must have served around 1500 cups of tea or coffee, Chris Tye who washed up all day long and of course Jackie Adams who organized it all. The beer tent sold out, all the sandwiches and cakes were sold, and the barbecue did fantastic business and also sold out. Thanks also go to Nick and Ash who made dozens of cakes. The total raised was £2741.08p ... Frome & Somerset Standard 6 April 2006 Campbell Adams & Paul Clarke raised £618.50p through sponsorship in the Bath Half-Marathon on March 19th.
Nursery staff Freddy Clayton, Ella Talbot, Emma Pritchard, Sharon Tye & Hatty Horn walked 21 miles from Bradford-on-Avon to the centre of Bath and back on 27th March and raised a total of £1161.50p.
Frome & Somerset Standard 11 November 2005
Frome & Somerset Standard 22 September 2005
How will you benefit?
- by having more nursery sessions available, morning and afternoon including lunchtimes
- by having safe, modern facilities for staff and children
- by having access to a wider range of nursery equipment indoors and outdoors
- by having access to pre-school and after-school clubs and evening classes
- by having a further community facility for child-oriented activities
If you want more detailed information on the plans for Mells Nursery, you can download the latest Business Plan (July 2006) from here (Download size 1.58Mb).
Building Project Team
Jo Plimmer (Planning and Fundraising) Andrew Roberts (Chair -Nursery Committee) Freddy Clayton (Nursery Staff) Vanessa Gould (Secretary - Nursery Committee) Jonny Morland (Treasurer - Nursery Committee)
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