Nursery shortages in Keynsham has caused one family to move their toddler between four different nurseries in the last two years. Helen Philpott and her partner have three children who are now six, three and six months-old, but have spent a fortune in petrol this year after having to drive miles everyday for their three-year-old to attend nursery.
Rowan started at Broadland Bears (Keynsham) in 2021 but in less than three months the nursery closed so he moved to Leaping Lambs for almost a year before five local branches closed permanently last year. Following the closure, they were not refunded for the month they had already paid in advance to Leaping Lambs and couldn't find another nursery place for their son locally.
After Rowan’s second nursery closure, he ended up attending nursery in Hengrove - five miles away - before securing a place at his current nursery in Stockwood which is three-and-a-half miles from the family's home in Keynsham. “It has been really disruptive. Rowan used to be one of those kids who didn’t look back after being dropped off but now he always cries when he’s left,” explained Helen.
READ MORE: Bristol’s underfunded nurseries at 'crisis' point as costs surge and staff are cut
Although Helen has now found a local place for Rowan in September, many of her friends face the long waiting lists, with some nurseries not having places available until 2025. Helen, who began contacting her local MP, Jacob Rees Mogg in 2022 following the closure of Leaping Lambs, has now come together with other local parents to campaign over the childcare crisis which has hit Keynsham particularly hard.
Her latest letter to the MP, signed by 140 local constituents, outlines the impact of the crisis resulting in reduced incomes, a widening gender pay gap and children missing out on their early years education. She sent the letter two weeks ago and is still awaiting a reply.
Carla Brain who also lives in Keynsham, managed to secure one day a week at her local nursery in 2025, despite joining the waiting list soon after she fell pregnant in 2022. Her statutory maternity leave meant that she needed to prioritise returning to work because the £172.48 per week she was entitled to was not enough to cover her mortgage.
In the Conservative government’s spring budget it was announced that the 30 hours free childcare currently available to working parents of three and four year olds will be extended to younger children in 2024 and 2025. Pregnant then Screwed who are campaigning for national childcare reform estimate that nurseries are currently facing a funding shortfall of £1b in delivering the current free provision and in order to extend that an estimated 38,000 childcare practitioners will need to be trained.
For those juggling childcare across different settings or unable to go back to work due to long nursery waiting lists, the promise of extended free hours in over a year’s time offers no solution. Helen hopes that her youngest child will soon be able to settle into a local nursery and not have the same experience as Rowan who was born during the pandemic.
Helen said: “Our son who is three couldn’t really see anyone for the first year of his life. It’s not really my style to stand up and campaign like this but I would be really gutted if our youngest had the same experience.
“I would really love for something to be done. I think childminders are great when they are younger but I think nurseries are a really good preparation for school and for us it would make more sense if we had two children in the same place.
“It removes any other choice, the new nursery was our only option. You almost don’t ask any questions, we said yes to the place before we even looked around. It would be a 20 to 30 minute walk."
READ NEXT:
We visited Keynsham's ‘optical illusion’ cycle lane that people keep tripping over
Britain's Got Talent viewers complain to Ofcom over Keynsham clown that scared Simon Cowell
Jacob Rees Mogg speaks out on 'optical illusion' cycle lane that has left many injured
Pre-school not making sure children are safe from abuse, says Ofsted
Ex-bus driver in Keynsham feels ‘completely stranded’ after public transport cuts
Leaping Lambs owner speaks for the first time since closure amid Ofsted investigation
