Charity pre-school to close over financial deficit

The charity said its pre-school service was no longer viable

A charity-run pre-school for disabled children in Surrey is to close over funding difficulties, operators say.

Challengers said the pre-school based at its play centre in Stoke Park, Guildford, would close at the end of the 2024 summer term.

The charity, which runs play schemes for disabled children and young people across the south east, said there was "no viable solution" to save the service.

It blamed falling funding, rising costs and recruitment difficulties.

In a statement the charity said: "We have tried our best to sustain the service, but this has been increasingly challenging in the current economic condition.

"A combination of low levels of funding, rising costs, and the difficulty in recruiting qualified staff mean we have been using our charitable reserves to fund the deficit and we cannot continue without affecting the wider charity."

The charity added that it recognised the impact of the closure but wanted to give as much notice as possible to staff and families.

It comes after a report by Ofsted in December found hundreds of early years providers in the south east had closed down.

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