A LOCAL nursery has this week secured a grant of £5,000 to build a new outdoor learning area.

And they received the money after they won a national award.

West Kilbride Early Years Centre was awarded the funding by financial mutual, OneFamily, through its Foundation Community Awards. The annual awards provide game-changing opportunities for community organisations, groups and projects across the UK.

The nursery, which has 75 children aged two to five years old, will use the funding to clear the area at the rear of the centre and turn it into a safe outdoor space for pupils called the ‘Discovery Forest’.

The Discovery Forest will be used during playtime and story time, and the children can have picnics in the specially designed seating area. The garden will also be used to teach children about plants and nature, and will contain bird houses, hedgehog hotels and toad pools.

West Kilbride Early Years Nursery was nominated for a Foundation Community Award by Elaine McClure, a OneFamily customer and chair of the board of directors at the nursery. The nursery was one of 41 organisations presented with an award in the latest round.

Elaine said: “It’s been fantastic to see the whole community support our award entry and we’d like to thank everyone who voted for us!

“The new garden will be an exciting area for all our children to learn and play in. The funding will have a huge impact on the children and will help them to develop key life skills at an early age.

Karl Elliott, marketing director at OneFamily, said: “The Discovery Forest will provide the children at the West Kilbride nursery with a fantastic learning experience and a place to fuel their active imaginations.

“Our Community Awards go right to the heart of what being part of a mutual society is all about, directly benefitting our customers and the causes closest to their hearts."

Over a period of five years, OneFamily aspires to make £5 million available through its Foundation, helping to improve the lives of its customers, their families and communities.

For more information about the project, and for regular updates, please visit the West Kilbride Early Years Centre ‘Discovery Forest’ project page