A NURSERY will remain open for the children of key workers and vulnerable children during the Covid-19 crisis, despite not being financially viable.

Kids 1st, run by Busy Bees, in Darlington has chosen to keep its centre open. It has been affected by changes to the guidance on government financial support available to nurseries.

A recent update from the Department for Education outlined multiple instances in which nurseries will no longer be able to furlough staff, and will only be able to access the coronavirus job retention scheme to cover a proportion of their pay bill.

This is because many early years settings receive public funding for children’s places, which is to continue.

The guidance followed weeks of uncertainty for the early years sector, with the original information stating providers could access both schemes without any restrictions – a move which led to many nurseries furloughing a large proportion of staff or closing temporarily on the basis that they could receive funding.

Busy Bees, which looks after more than 55,000 children globally, has introduced flexible plans for its nurseries, including merging centres to ensure there is provision for children while their parents carry out key roles.

The nursery is currently accepting new enrolments for the children of key workers, vulnerable children or families struggling to find childcare provision over the coming months.

Marg Randles, Busy Bees’ founder, said: “For our Kids 1st Darlington nursery, we wanted to do the right thing for key worker parents and the local community in these challenging times.

“So, while many nurseries took the decision to close, we felt there was a bigger picture and a longer game to be played.

“There has been much comment about a lack of places at nurseries and criticism where providers have taken the difficult decision to close. It is easy to understand the frustration felt by those who need childcare and cannot access it, but also for many providers in the sector, difficult decisions have had to be taken.

“We wanted to be part of a solution by keeping our nurseries open, despite it not being commercially viable for many of centres, and not create further problems for under-pressure key workers and the Government by completely shutting up shop.”