Little Footsteps Childcare hopes to support Dereham families

Little Footsteps Childcare in Dereham said it will try and help as many families as possible following news that Alpha Nurseries closed The Magic Tree Nursery in the town just before the new year.

The childcare centre on Norwich Road, which was rated good at its last Ofsted inspection, took to social media to share its sadness over the Magic Tree Nursery closing, offering its condolences to the families and staff who were affected on December 29.

Little Footsteps Childcare in Dereham made the decision to remain open during the coronavirus crisis to provide care to children of key workers (Image: Archant)

Donna Nevill and Gemma Hewett, co-owners of Little Footsteps, now have big plans to help support Dereham.

They said: “Magic Tree closing came as a massive shock to us and to the parents who used the nursery.

"We wanted to give our sympathy and say we would take on as many children as we could.

“Six children have joined us since and we have more show-arounds planned for this week, and we are thinking about expanding the facility in Dereham.

"Nothing concrete at the moment, just a discussion, so we can provide the families with what they need.”

Little Footsteps in Dereham (Image: Archant © 2013)

“We think it is our obligation, we want to help as many families and staff who lost their jobs. As small business owners, we went into business mode thinking about what can we do, how can we do it and how we set about putting it in place."

In the centre’s Facebook post, it said that it would look for both part-time and full-time staff at both its Dereham and Mattishall centres if demand for them increased.  

It had a mix of spaces available across all its age ranges in both Dereham and Mattishall.

The childcare centre also revealed it has interviews lined up with two former employees from The Magic Tree Nursery.