The sun was shining for Alison Thompson, manager of Panda Nursery, who celebrated the official launch of her fabulous new building on Glebe Meadow, Limpsfield on Saturday 15th Sept.
Attended by crowds of well-wishers, including parents, present and past alumni and local residents, the new purpose-built building was officially opened by an emotional Alison, her mother in law, June Thompson and Shirley Dare, who ran the nursery before June.
Ali Thompson has dreamt of a new premises in the lovely rural setting of Glebe Meadow since she took over management of the nursery. After three years of negotiations with the Diocese of Southwark (who owns Glebe Meadow), her dream has finally come true.
Ali thanked her family and friends, many people from the local community, St Peters/Diocese of Southwark and Phil Spencer of Portakabin Ltd (Lingfield office) who oversaw the build and delivery of this fantastic building.
It was a brilliant event and Ali and her team should be incredibly proud of their achievements and their importance to the local Limpsfield and Oxted community.
Panda, rated Outstanding by Ofsted, has now been part of the community for 58 years, supporting Oxted and Limpsfield families. Currently managed and owned by Alison Thompson, it was previously run by her mother-in-law, June Thompson and before her, by Shirely Dare. These three ladies, who have given so much to local families and the community, will launch the new building together.
The state of the art education building was built off-site by Portakabin and transported to Glebe Meadow in July (see our Facebook posts). A fantastic feat of modern engineering (not to mention driving skills by the delivery truck driver!) saw the new nursery building arrive in six parts, lowered into place by a huge crane, directly onto the pre-installed foundations, plumbing and electrics – ready to be connected up and have the facia applied.
Now, looking like it’s been there for ages, the brand new nursery is ready to go and open from 8am to 6pm. While places for the morning pre-school are full, there are a few ‘fully funded’ places for children for the afternoon sessions, as well as for breakfast and after school care.
“This is fantastic for the families and community of Limpsfield”, said Ali Thompson. “In the Church Hall, we only had limited capacity and opening times, due to sharing the building with other activities, but now we have a beautiful new premises, just for us, and can offer a much wider range of activities and longer opening hours.”
“It’s such a lovely location, right in the heart of the village, surrounded by the fields and the playing fields used for so many different activities, like the Limpsfield fete, adults’ football and Raw Skills, so it’s lovely to feel like we’ve really come home,” she said.
Limpsfield, Surrey 