Samira Ansari opens second nursery

Mayor Ray Dutton and Mayoress Elaine Dutton with Samira Ansari

The Mayor and Mayoress officially declared a new Seeros Child Day Care centre in Rochdale open on Saturday 15 October.

Samira Ansari, from Marland, started Seeros Child Day Care Ltd on Belfield Road seven years ago to give children of all backgrounds a diverse and warm environment from “the very start”.

Her venture was such a success that the 41-year-old businesswoman decided to set up a second centre on Church Stile, creating jobs for the town and opening the service to more local children.

Mrs Ansari spoke of how her Pakistani heritage was her inspiration for encouraging a diverse and welcoming environment for the children from the earliest possible stage.

She said: “My late father was my inspiration behind providing a high level of childcare to children within our wider community by bringing the same opportunities to all children regardless of their social, economic or ethnic background.

“I have always wanted to give something back to the community. I am the youngest of seven and my parents migrated from Pakistan in the early 60s to give us a better life with better education and opportunities, leaving behind their family.”

“Educating parents of the importance and benefits of early years’ education was one of my biggest challenges, but once we managed to inform people of the benefits and more and more children started to attend our nursery, parents and carers began to see for themselves how much their children had actually learned and developed.

“I’m really thankful to all the people who came along for the opening, including the Mayor and Mayoress and members of the wider community. It was a fantastic day and the support we have been getting is superb.”