A FORMER school teacher who ventured into childminding several years ago is just weeks away from opening her first nursery.

Lucy Atkinson, 33, of High Greenbury Farm in Scorton, Richmondshire has spent the majority of her working career as a teacher.

But in 2012, and upon moving onto her husband's family farm, she decided to start her childminding-business 'Lucy Little Lamb's,' which made use of over 1,200 acres of rural farmland.

The Northern Echo: Lucy Atkinson who has set up a children’s nursery on her farm at Scorton, pictured with Charlie Whittaker,4 and Charlotte Atkinson, 3. Picture: Richard Doughty PhotographyLucy Atkinson who has set up a children’s nursery on her farm at Scorton, pictured with Charlie Whittaker,4 and Charlotte Atkinson, 3. Picture: Richard Doughty Photography

Eventually growing to support around nine toddler-age children, and the employment of three permanent staff members, Mrs Atkinson said a rise in demand and a desire to expand, prompted her to apply for government support to kick-start her nursery.

Mrs Atkinson beat off dozens of other schemes to apply for a Leader Grant of £24,000.

She said: "I used to be a teacher but thought this would be a nice place for children to come to, and having had my teaching experience – I thought that would be really good to link in with child minding.

"The opportunity came up to apply for a grant and we were within the catchment area and fulfilled the criteria – we just went for it, and we were the top people to get it."

Construction of a state-of-the-art purpose-built nursery building began in October 2018, with enough space to accommodate almost 30 children.

The Northern Echo:

Mrs Atkinson said: "The building work started last year, it hasn’t taken too long but the type of building we’ve put up with it being a non-standard construction – it’s not as time consuming as putting up a normal build."

"Although I’ve had to put in around £60,000 of my own money towards it."

Mrs Atkinson said the grant originally supported around 40 per cent of the project, but additional costs has meant around £80,000 has been spent in total.

She said: "The costs just added up as we went along, but I’m really pleased with what we’ve achieved so it’s all worth it."

The nursery building, which features a 115 sq ft main space overlooks the farm's 2,000 sheep, 4,000 lambs and 30 cows, which compliments her rural childcare business model.

She added: "We’re completely full – we get enquiries every week for people looking for childcare so being able to fill up all of the extra spaces without even having to promote just shows that this is what people are looking for.

"People want their children to be outside – they want them to be on the farm you know, they just want them to be children, enjoying the outdoors and having a fresh start to life."

The sole businesswoman rebranded her business as High Greenbury Childcare Limited ahead of the nursery's official open date on May, 6.