College crèche opens new outdoor play area

John Spindler Hopwood Hall College, Karen Danczuk, Lynne Platt Crèche-N-Co, Tina Brandon Crèche-N-Co, Lorraine Darlington Crèche-N-Co Director, Marilyn Prescott Crèche-N-Co Director, Simon Danczuk MP, Saf Arfan Hopwood Hall College, Morris Danczuk and Milton Danczuk

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A new outdoor play area at Hopwood Hall College Rochdale Campus crèche was officially opened today (28 August) by Simon Danczuk, MP, with the help of his family.

The purpose built, £60,000 garden features a digging area, a story corner with giant chairs and toadstools to sit on, a quiet area, textured soft flooring paths, a herb garden and tiered grassed areas.

The crèche, which caters for children aged up to five years old, has been taking care of the children of College students and staff since it opened in 1990. The popular nursery holds a ‘good’ Ofsted rating and is run by Crèche-N-Co, a local not for profit childcare provider.

With a capacity for 60 children, who attend on a part-time, full-time and holiday club basis, the new play area will be put to the test and is sure to be much enjoyed by all.

Saf Arfan, Director of Corporate Services at Hopwood Hall College said: “The College has offered an on-site nursery provision for many years but the facilities were tired and pretty uninspiring for our children.

"We hatched a plan to transform the outdoor play area and developed a well thought out scheme and to our delight it’s exceeded our expectations - the children simply love it.

"The College and Crèche-N-Co shared the costs and this investment will make a huge difference to the learning and development of our students’ children, who in-turn may become students at the College one day. As successive generations pass through the College, it’s important we take a long-term view with our capital investments.”

Lorraine Darlington, Director of Crèche-N-Co added: “To be able to offer our nursery children such fantastic facilities is really important to us. There are so many things for the children to utilise in our new play area. It’s incredible to see it all completed, it looks brilliant and as I’ve seen today, both staff and the children are enjoying using the space already. We look forward to many happy play days in the garden in the future.”