A pre-school facing possible closure says it is thankful for support from its community in Calstock as it tries to keep afloat.

The Tamar Valley Pre-School has been an integral part of village life for more than 30 years, but in recent times a steep drop in numbers has led to the setting’s financial future looking precarious.

Local people are rallying to keep the facility going and a JustGiving fundraising page currently stands at just over £2000 of a £10,000 target.

The cash raised will help the pre-school in its aim to extend its offering in 2025: the setting has had to let go of staff as numbers have dropped, and is currently operated by the manager and deputy and a trainee.

Manager Leanne Wickett, who’s been at Tamar Valley for eight years, said the pre-school used to have healthy numbers of between 2 to 25 children in on one day, but has now dropped to just nine youngsters in total on the roll.

Leanne says that a changing demographic in the village is partly to blame for the fall in registered children.

“The current situation is really just down to the lack of children, but the wider picture is that there’s no affordable housing,” she said. “We’ve rinsed Calstock of children, sadly.

“If we were to close then it would obviously affect the Village Hall as well as us, as we use it so much. We’ve had to lose one member of staff and others have cut hours voluntarily.

“Calstock is a very close community and the pre-school is a big part of it. We’re now looking after the children of some of the children who originally came here.”

The pre-school team say they have been “totally overwhelmed” with the generosity of local people who’ve donated to the appeal, and they are determined, says Leanne, to do everything they can to keep the doors open and thrive once again.

“We’re doing a lot of fundraising events, and the parish council and the whole community have been brilliant.

“We’re doing our best to save it and looking at ways to survive.”

At one time, before it became a pre-school setting, there used to be a “stay and play” session, and this will start again from January 8, running on a Wednesday morning from 10am to noon.

There will also be an open day on Friday, January 10, from 1pm at Calstock Village Hall where parents and children can meet staff and see the kinds of activities that take place.

TAMAR Valley Preschool, which runs some of its sessions from Calstock Village Hall, is trying to do what it can to survive. Local people have helped to raise more than £2000 so far
Tamar Valley Preschool, which runs some of its sessions from Calstock Village Hall, is trying to do what it can to survive. Local people have helped to raise more than £2,000 so far (Google Maps)

In its last Ofsted inspection report of 2019, the Tamar Valley Pre-School was judged as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas. The report described how “all staff have extremely high expectations of children - they fully understand, and superbly meet, the needs of the children and their families.”

In a message to supporters of the current appeal, the pre-school team thanked people for their generosity.

“Wow – what a community we live in. Thank you so much to those who have donated so far, especially at this time of year.”