Funding secured by Saints Nursery for new forest kindergarten
At the beginning of the year Saints Nursery, University of St Andrews applied to the St Andrews Ball for funding which would help them to purchase various outdoor equipment that is required in the Nursery setting to allow the children to develop to their full potential in line with the Scottish guidelines for children education.This included expanding the Nursery’s outdoor area by implementing forest kindergarten. This involves the need for outdoor equipment such as hammock, portable toilet, den building kits for shelter in bad weather, pull along trolley to transport equipment to the forest/ outdoor areas, scientific equipment such as magnifying glasses and binoculars etc. There was also a need of a rocking horse which is a requirement of the Fife Council core provision for the nursery setting.
A few weeks later the Nursery were informed they would be granted over 75% of the funding requested to help them create their forest kindergarten. Delighted with this the team attended an event hosted by the committee at The Old Course Hotel, Golf & Spa where they received their cheque.
The St Andrews Ball emerged from The St Andrews Midsummers Ball, which was established in 2008. Following the success of the inaugural event, the St Andrews Midsummer’s Ball became a fixture on the local social calendar and, after a ‘year out’ in 2015, we came back “new and improved” ahead of one of our most successful events up to that point in May 2016.
We now alternate between offering a high-end black tie dinner one year and a more relaxed drinks event the next, but our aim is always to offer a fantastic night for our guests and ask, unabashedly, that in return they generously support our fundraising. The St Andrews Ball black-tie dinner in May 2018 raised in excess of £31,000 which was shared out to more than 50 organisations, all based in and around Fife and most of which work with children in their respective communities.
Assistant Director (Children’s Services) Claire Scott and Nursery Manager Anja Copland have said “We would like to extend our most sincere gratitude and thanks for the Ball Committee’s contribution to Saints Nursery, University of St Andrews. This will have a major impact on helping create an engaging, nurturing, and positive learning environment for our children at Saints Nursery. We had a lovely evening learning about the fantastic work that takes place in the community and the support from the committee in helping groups and voluntary organisations achieve their aspirations in making their community a better place. We want to thank you for helping us make a positive difference to our children’s outdoor environment and creating experiences that will shape the world around them.”