Family Fun Day raises over £1100

Helen McArdle Care and Kids 1st Day Nurseries will give the £1100 raised at the annual family fun day to The Children’s Foundation, the charity that works to help improve children’s health in North East England.

The event, at Gosforth Park Racecourse, Newcastle, was arranged for all of the care home and nursery staff and their families, plus the families and children who attend the nurseries. It featured a range of attractions including fairground rides, a live performance from High School Glee, stalls from the staff teams, Irish dancing from the Kelly Hendry School of Irish Dancing and a warm up from kidsRfit.

Libby Nolan, Fundraising Manager from The Children’s Foundation said: “It was a fantastic day for all of the family; without this kind of support we could not continue our work to improve the health and well being of children and young people in the North East.”

Not only was the event a great chance for the staff to relax and enjoy themselves but it also encouraged team work; all of the care homes and nurseries entered teams into an assault course knock out challenge. After two hours of competition the head office team won the challenge and secured the trophy.

Mark McArdle, Managing Director said: “Everyone had a great day and we were lucky to get such a sunny day. All of the staff teams put a lot of hard work into ensuring that they had a unique stall to raise funds for The Children’s Foundation. We are delighted that we have raised so much for the charity.”

Kids 1st Gosforth Now Open

Kids 1st Gosforth opened its doors to the public for the very first time on Saturday 14 August and invited parents to take a look around the new purpose-built facility. The nursery, which is managed by Vikki Greggs, an experienced childcare professional, has 108 full time places, and nearly half of these are already booked.

Allison Winship, Head of Childcare at Kids 1st, is thrilled that the nursery has already been so successful. She said: “In the run up to the nursery opening we had taken over 50 bookings and after this weekend this has increased even further.”

“At Kids 1st we invest a lot of time and money into each of the nurseries we build and operate, however we wouldn’t be able to offer such high quality childcare without the enthusiasm, passion and commitment of all of the staff. Opening a new nursery really is a team effort and I am proud to say that we have a fantastic team in place at Gosforth.”

The Ofsted registered nursery is split into rooms depending on age group and level of development. Each room leads to an enclosed garden, where the children can get as much fresh air and exercise as desired. Outstanding features of the nursery include an onsite chef to prepare homemade nutritious meals and fingerprint entry system to ensure that the highest  level of security.

Vikki Greggs, Nursery Manager, said: “ It was great to meet so many of the families who will be starting at the nursery over the coming weeks. It has been really hard work to get the nursery ready in time but it is worth it when you see how excited the children are to get started with us.”

Going, going, gone!

This week nursery children from Kids 1st Quorum are celebrating after raising £767 for The Children’s Foundation in a special art auction held at the nursery.

Children and staff raised the money for the North East children’s charity by creating miniature pieces of art that were put up for auction in the nursery on the 8 July 2010.

Andrea Venters, Nursery Manager, is absolutely delighted with the money that has been raised. She said: “This is the second auction of this kind that we have held at Kids 1st Quorum, not only does the money raised go to a good cause but it also encourages our children to learn about the world around them, whilst having fun of course!”

“Abi Tasker, the Deputy Manager, has been the driving force behind this event and after the success of last year’s auction we wanted to make this year’s bigger and better.”

To supplement the art work the nursery also auctioned off prizes that were kindly donated by parents, including a complimentary night’s stay at The Copthorne Hotel, a professional photography session and a make-up lesson at MAC.

Family and friends of Kids 1st Quorum were all present and were treated to a selection of canapés prepared by the nursery’s chefs.

A grand day out at Kids 1st Wansbeck

Kids 1st Wansbeck are delighted to announce that they have raised over £1000 for Tiny Lives, a charity that is very close to the nursery’s heart. (more…)

All the fun of the fair!

For the last couple of years Kids 1st have hosted an annual family fun day for all of the families who attend our nurseries and our staff. (more…)

Kids 1st… coming soon to Gosforth

Everyone at Kids 1st is getting very excited about our new nursery opening in Gosforth. (more…)