Poole nursery raises £5,000 to build new school in Rwanda

Nursery owner Linda Duly went to Rwanda in 2015 with her husband and visited an orphanage in Kinigi run by Faith Uwantege, who she says is ‘an extraordinary woman’.

The Foundation aims to help restore hope and educate vulnerable children and women to build skills for a brighter life and future.

‘Faith set up The Faith Foundation, which takes in children of parents affected by genocide, AIDS or those who only have one parent or even a lone grandparent taking care of them,’ Ms Duly said.

On her return to the UK the nursery owner started organising a different charity event every month at the three nurseries in Poole.

Charity events included singing nursery rhymes, growing sunflowers and putting pennies in Smarties’ jars, as well as selling DVDs of the nativity play.

Parents and staff from the three settings contributed over 12 months until the target of £5,000 was reached and a cheque was sent to support the building of a new facility for the Faith Foundation.

‘It is particularly pertinent that as we see our new buildings and facilities taking shape at Canford Heath and Parkstone, we know that many miles away, thanks to the efforts of our children, parents and staff, we have helped support the building of another facility that is going to make a huge difference to a number of children’s lives,’ Ms Duly said.

The building site of the new school in Rwanda

‘It is also interesting to see how much more can be done with £5K in a country like Rwanda.’

The fundraising has given the Cuddles nursery children an opportunity to learn about helping others, and to compare their own situations with those of less fortunate children, she said.

Meanwhile, an expansion of two of the nursery’s own settings is underway following successful bids for two capital funding grants.

Earlier this year, the settings in Canford Heath (pictured below) and Parkstone were awarded £381,168 and £246,230 respectively to create 156 new nursery places to meet the demand of working families eligible for the 30 hours.

The money will be used alongside extra funds from Cuddles Day Nursery, bringing the total investment closer to £1 million.

Canford Heath Councillor Sandra Moor said, ‘This is great news for local families. I’m sure Cuddles was chosen to receive this grant not only because they provide excellent quality childcare, but because they also want to work with other local childcare providers to help deliver the new, increased entitlement of 30 hours of free childcare.'

Building work is underway at Cuddles' Canford Heath site, which is expanding to offer 30-hour places for working parents