The Great Big Read, an event created to excite children about reading and to raise money and awareness for a free book library for parents, was hosted by Tops Day Nurseries in Salisbury between Monday 2nd March until Friday 6th March.
Invitations were sent out to encourage volunteers to head down to the nurseries to take part and Cllr Richard Clewer and MP John Glen visited the nursery based onsite at Salisbury District Hospital to take part and read story books with the children.
With the support of Independent Usborne Organiser Vanessa Marsh from Pop-Up Bookshop, Tops Day Nurseries took part in the Great Big Read in order to raise awareness of the importance of reading, provide opportunities for their children to read and be read to and to raise funds for their book lending library. Tops Day Nurseries created their lending library to allow parents and children access to books and other reading materials that they may not have previously been able to access.
MP John Glen commented “It was great to visit the Tops Nursery setting at the hospital and meet the children and childcare team. I was impressed to see the work the staff put in to give the children the best possible start in life.
The Great Big Read initiative is a fantastic way to promote a positive relationship with reading, especially in this digital age.
I will be making representations in Parliament to ensure that funding is available for early years providers like Tops to keep delivering high quality education for pre-schoolers in Salisbury.
Leaders were keen to tell me about the nursery’s commitment to sustainability and I applaud their efforts to support local and national efforts to cut one-use plastic and reduce carbon emissions.”
After hosting the events Tops have managed to transform their lending library service with an incredible number of free books being given by Usborne Books at Home, a division of Usborne Publishing, in addition to all of the sponsorship money raised to purchase books. On top of the individually sponsored element, Vanessa Marsh coordinated a giant Community Book Pledge securing further sponsorship from businesses including school and nursery suppliers.
Cheryl Hadland, Managing Director of Tops Day Nurseries commented “We are delighted to be a part of this exciting new project and I am very proud of the book lending library we have created for our parents and the contribution of almost £5000 has given us a fantastic start.”
Tops Day Nurseries offers care for children from 3 months – school age, as well as having an afterschool and holiday club for children up to the age of 8. Parents can benefit from extended opening hours of 6am-8pm subject to demand, for, 52 weeks a year including Bank Holidays. This is as well as the number of extra-curricular activities such as Forest School, which extend the experiences children have whilst at nursery. For more information, please call 0801 699650 or email enquiries@topsdaynurseries.co.uk
Providing happy, nurturing childcare for the hours you need, across over 30 nursery settings in: Babbacombe, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Charminster, Copnor, Fawley, Gillingham, Corfe Mullen, Havant, Lakeside, Lymington, Taunton, Newport, Poole, Portsmouth, Salisbury,
Southsea, Wareham, Wimborne, Winchester, and Yeovil.
