WEST Kilbride Early Years centre has been shortlisted for a national Play More Award.

Play More was set up to help deserving nurseries improve their outdoor play areas with financial support or murals.

It is an initiative which was set up by Sudocrem and has been designed to encourage parents and children to get back in touch with nature and explore the greatest playground on earth – the outdoors.

As part of the campaign, Play More asks parents to nominate a deserving nursery and West Kilbride Early Years has been shortlisted to receive support for their outdoor play area.

One representative from the nursery said: ”Our nursery outdoor play area has just been dismantled as the wood had rotten.

“This year the nursery starts with a deficit due to the council pulling funding.

"We are having to put extra effort into fund raising this year to bring funds back up to keep the nursery open.

"We don’t have any extra funds to fix the play area and have been appealing for donations from parent’s and local businesses. It would be an amazing benefit for the kids to have a new outdoor play area.”

As part of the campaign, Sudocrem carried out a survey which asked 200 children between the ages of four to eight years old to identify some of the creepy crawlies in Britain.

The survey revealed that nine out of 10 children (89 per cent) were unable to recognise a butterfly even though there is an abundance of native British insects, with around 27,000 insect species calling the UK home. Moreover, 51 per cent didn’t know what a bumblebee looks like.

And, surprisingly, 1 in 3 (29 per cent) didn’t realise that bees make honey. Parents can nominate a nursery here: www.sudocrem. co.uk/social-hub