Syston Nursery Raises £885.60 for Leicestershire Fire Service Charities

Funds Raised at Summer Fair held to celebrate the 30th birthday of Children 1st Day Nurseries with all proceeds donated to Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service as part of company’s pledge to support 30 good causes throughout its anniversary year.
Children, staff and parents at Children 1st @ Syston day nursery in Leicestershire are pleased to have raised £885.60 for the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Charities at their Summer Fair.
The traditional Summer Fair featured an array of stalls and activities to suit all ages. Popular stalls included the lucky dip, name the bear and the tombola. The delicious cake stall was a great temptation, whilst activities such as face painting, biscuit decoration and colouring kept the little ones  entertained.
The event raised £442.80 on the day and this has been match funded by Children 1st to bring the overall total to £885.60.
In addition to supporting the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Charities, the Summer Fair was organised to celebrate Children 1st Day Nurseries’ 30th anniversary.  With the best interests of children and their families at the heart of its ethos, the company, which has five nurseries in Leicestershire, decided to mark this significant milestone with a year-long programme of activity to raise funds for a range of children’s clubs, charities, groups and local initiatives. The company has pledged to match fund all proceeds raised by its 24 nurseries as part of this.
Children 1st @ Syston decided that the money raised at its Summer Fair, along with the contribution from the directors at the company’s head office in Long Eaton, would be donated to their local fire service to support the charitable work they undertake on behalf of the community.
Emma Haywood, manager of Children 1st @ Syston comments, “We are mindful of the work undertaken by the fire service both in terms of keeping the community safe and their charitable fundraising. For example, they raise money through their Fire Fighters Charity to support injured firefighters and their families as well as fundraising at Christmas for a range of charities. They also give their time to the nursery, bringing the fire engine and talking to the children about fire safety. Our fund raising is a way of conveying our thanks for all they do to help us.”
Children 1st Day Nurseries plans further fundraising activity throughout its 30th anniversary year across its 24 settings within the Midlands and South Yorkshire.
Since the company was formed in 1988 by Margaret Mason OBE and her family, it has grown to be one of the UK’s leading, family owned, childcare providers, with 83% of its settings rated as ‘Outstanding in All Areas’ by Ofsted. The company now cares for 3,621 children and employs over 600 people. 
Margaret Mason, Children 1st Founder and Chief Executive comments: “To celebrate our anniversary we wanted to involve all our settings and their local communities who have shown great support over the last 30 years. It’s our nursery teams, parents and carers, many of whom have been with us since we started, along with the local community, that have helped to make Children 1st the successful company it is today.”
“We felt it was important to use this wonderful milestone to help children and their families who are facing difficult times and to do this throughout the year, so we have maximum impact.  I am therefore delighted to support local and national good causes with a range of events at our nurseries.”