VILLAGERS’ ambitious plans to save a school building from demolition have come to fruition – and it is set to welcome children later this year.

When news that a former school site in Winterborne Stickland near Blandford was up for auction, there were concerns that the site could be redeveloped or demolished by a new owner.

The building on Dunbury Lane was previously gifted to the village by the Hambro family in 1859 to serve as the village school and was run by the Diocese of Salisbury before it closed in 2013.

Since then, the Stickleberries Preschool operated at the site before its sudden closure in August 2023 following concerns from Ofsted that children “may be at risk of harm”, which left the school vacant, over 100 children without a school and families scrambling for day care.

This triggered a clause that meant the whole site gets handed back to the benefactor’s family.

Concerned that the building could be demolished or redeveloped by a new owner, villagers rallied together to create a community interest company to buy the building with the idea to reopen it as a nursery and set up a GoFundMe to meet the rumoured £350,000 asking price.

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They have now been successful, and the nursery will soon be ready to open to support families and children with full-time, year-round childcare from the age of nine months upwards.

Trustee for the nursery, Anna Way, praised everyone involved who helped make their dream a reality.

“This has been an amazing community project,” she said.

Villagers and trustees have given hours of the time to get the school up and running. Here is trustee, Hannah Ross, adding the finishing touches to the paintwork in the Baby Room Picture: Winterborne Stickland Nursery School CIC

“It has only been possible with the support of so many people in so many different ways – from fundraising; the donation of specialist skills; volunteering time to decorate and assemble furniture and all the local businesses who have given us free or dramatically reduced materials.

“It’s a difficult world at times and it has been so incredibly heart-warming to see how much kindness and community spirit there is within our local community.

“All uniting to help us ensure we give our children the best experience we possibly can.”

The nursery will be open in time to support families eligible for the new government-funded places in September.

Staff said they are “delighted” that the vital importance that early years education plays in supporting people’s life chances has been recognised.

Picture: Winterborne Stickland Nursery School CIC

“Now all children have the chance to experience fun and exploration, both indoors and outdoors, as well as the highest levels of care from nine months onwards,” a spokesperson added.

Deputy manager Robyn Hunt said: “We all aim never to stop learning and now we can ensure that everybody gets the same chances right from the very start.”

Winterborne Stickland is one of the many rural areas in North Dorset benefitting from the previous government’s Levelling Up funding to provide high-speed fibre internet delivered free of charge to everyone’s front door.

A spokesperson for the nursery said: “Wessex Internet are great supporters of the nursery school in Winterborne Stickland and have done all they can to support this local charity’s aims by providing an excellent service as well as an extremely generous installation and remuneration package.”

Anyone interested in seeing the progress made so far, registering interest in a future place or talking to someone at the nursery is asked to come to the open day this Saturday (June 7) from 10.30am to 2.30pm.