Nurseries serve up community spirit to Lancashire's key workers

Staff at Ashbridge pitching into get meals ready

Ashbridge, which has sites in Hutton, Walton-le-Dale and Cottam, is preparing meals parents on the frontline can take home when they collect their children, and is also offering deliveries to those in the community who are self-isolating or vulnerable.

“We’ve remained open because lots of our children’s parents work on the front line”, said Laura Woods, joint nursery manager at Maxy Farm in Cottam.

“They’re keeping the country going, and we started thinking about what they would be doing at the end of the day and that what they’re making for tea is probably the last thing on their mind, especially with a young family to look after too.

“Then we started to think about the local community and what we could do to help them.

“We thought, while we’ve got the staff and facilities to make meals, then why not?”

So far this week, the menu has included chicken supreme, cauliflower cheese, sausage and mash, hotpot, corned beef hash and spaghetti bolognese.

The meals have been made at Maxy Farm by joint nursery manager Julie Fazackerley, a trained chef, who is part of the skeleton staff on site.

Laura added: “We’ve had a really good response so far. The more people hear about what we’re offering, the more enquiries we’re getting.

“Just this morning we’ve been out delivering a hot meal to an elderly lady in Ingol who has a heart complaint and can’t leave the house. We also took her some essentials like bread and milk.

“We still have links with our suppliers and we wanted to make good use of our excesses.

“It’s something we wanted to do as part of the community and it’s also a good message to send out to the children.”

Deliveries are available throughout the Preston and South Ribble areas. Call 01772 733312 for more information.