THE saying may be “it takes a village to raise a child” but in this instance, it takes a village to raise a nursery.
Villagers in Winterborne Stickland near Blandford are trying to raise £320,000 to buy a former school so it can be reopened as a nursery.
The building was originally gifted to the village by the Hambro family to serve as the village school and was run by the Diocese of Salisbury before it closed it 2013.
Since then, the Stickleberries Preschool has been operating at the site before its sudden closure last year which left the school vacant and over 100 children without a school.
The diocese, a trustee of the building, is now looking to sell the building at auction which has sparked fears it could be redeveloped or demolished by a new owner.
Two nearby village schools in Hilton and Milton Abbas, which were also set up via donation of land by Hasbro family, have already been sold and converted into accommodation.
Villagers were quick to respond to the plans, setting up a Community Interest Company (CIC) to buy the building with the idea to reopen it as a nursery.
Dunbury Primary School Children looking wistfully at their old, closed preschool building Picture Winterborne Stickland Nursery School CIC
The current head of the Hambro family, the Hon. Charles Hambro, has stated his family donated the building “for the purpose of local education” and he said that requirement still exists today.
The Diocese of Salisbury, the site’s trustees, told the BBC it was currently seeking clarity on the wishes from the family of the original benefactor.
Anna Way from the Winterborne Stickland Nursery School CIC says there is a “desperate” need for nursery and preschool places in the area.
“The vision of the CIC Directors is to keep the Nursery School open all year around to offer full-time care from 8am to 6pm every weekday,” she said.
All profits from the school, she said, would be re-invested back into the nursery school, the children, the staff and the local community.
She added: “The school currently sits in a large playground much of which will be returned to a more natural environment, more suitable for young children to play in and explore. A toddler haven!
“A local landscape gardener is helping us to make the outside learning environment as exciting as the learning areas inside.
“The historic arched windows and beautiful stone doorways will be the backdrop to a nursery school decorated inside like a fairy tale castle. A place of adventure, exploration and imagination!
“Much work has been done over the last year by volunteers in the village gathering local opinion, carrying out feasibility studies, weighing up the benefits of establishing a village nursery school, discussing how it will operate, applying for funding and writing a detailed business plan.
“There is no intention to develop the site, which is low lying and in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
“The opportunity to make this vision a reality and encourage and support the villagers lies in the hands of the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education who are trustees for the site and responsible for its sale.”
To highlight their battle hundreds of orange and red ribbons have been tied to the former school’s fence to represent each former pupil that went there.
To support the CIC in their efforts to reopen the school as a preschool, search ‘Save our school’ on GoFundMeor visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/3qee8-help-save-our-school
The Diocese of Salisbury was contacted for comment.
I really hope that the school can be saved, most people of my age went to small local schools, a sense of community and friendship.