Summer celebrations at Greengables

Festivities were well underway at Greengables Day Nursery in Owlsmoor as families enjoyed a series of events to celebrate their school leavers and raise money for charity.

Starting with a special graduation ceremony for their ‘Class of 2023’ at the Owlsmoor Community Centre, pre-schoolers from the award-winning setting on Yeovil Road were delighted to dress up in traditional gowns and mortar boards, where they received their certificates of achievement in front of the audience of proud parents and practitioners.

From police officers and princesses to singers and vets, children shared their career aspirations for the future, before receiving graduation gifts including a bespoke photo frame containing their picture from the day, as well as eco-friendly milk bottle top and cork tokens to exchange for food and drink at their Summer Fete later in the day.  

In the afternoon, all nursery families gathered at the setting for the annual summer celebration, with music, games and attractions including hook-a-duck, face painting, biscuit decorating, jewellery making, lucky dip and more, as well as stalls from local businesses run by both parents and staff; Creative Delights, Mabel’s Bowtique and Usborne Books.

During the event, families also had the opportunity to take part in an exciting raffle, with 45 prizes donated by parents and local businesses including gift hampers, Wilson sporting equipment, a photography session and the top prize of a 32” flatscreen TV, with proceeds from the day raising a grand total of £1,850.00 for The Trussell Trust food bank network.

Throughout the month, children and staff also enjoyed colour themed dress down days to raise money for the cause, whilst parents made kind donations of blue, green, yellow and red prizes including food and toiletries which were made into hampers for the Fete raffle.

Greengables Day Nursery Quality Manager, Shannon Axtell explained;

“We had such a brilliant day celebrating with our wonderful nursery families and although saying goodbye to our lovely pre-schoolers is bittersweet, we are so excited to hear all about their next adventure. We have been blown away by the amount raised for The Trussell Trust and are so thankful to everyone who has contributed, as this money will do so much good in the community and help feed local people who are facing hardship.”

Greengables have adopted The Trussell Trust for a year-long fundraising and donation drive.