All staff would like to wish you a Happy Christmas and New Year.
Bread Christmas tree decorations
Charlie got up to lots of mischief every night at nursery.
Dear Parents,
Over the Christmas period Nursery still has a responsibility
(given us by Public Health England) to notify families if a child or member of
staff tests positive for COVID19.
If your child develops symptoms or has a
positive test that indicates they would have been infectious whilst still at
Nursery, you must notify Tracy Ellett even if Nursery is closed. Tracy will
then notify anyone who would be a close contact of the infected person. These
arrangements remain in place until the 30th December to allow time for test
results to be returned.
Please only contact Tracy on her work email,
t.ellett@stmarysblackburn.ac.uk , this will be checked once a day in the
mornings. Please use the subject line “COVID URGENT”. Tracy will contact you if
you need to be notified as a close contact and are required to isolate
We have all come so far with our efforts to
keep safe this year, please continue to take care of yourselves and your
families at this time
Regards
We are saying Goodbye to Rukhsar who will be leaving us on the 24th December. Rukhsar has a new job at a Children's Centre in Blackburn with Darwen.
Rukhsar has worked at St Mary's Nursery for eight years and will be greatly missed by all staff and children.
Good Luck for the future Rukhsar.
Our local COVID Winter Grant scheme
What is it?
BwD has recently received a government grant
to support families and children and other vulnerable adults through the winter
period to access food, support with utility bills and other essentials to help
keep people warm and fed. The Council and partners in the VCFS have been
working together at pace to develop a programme of support that can help our
most vulnerable residents access much needed support. The programme will
run between 1st December and 31st March.
Who is it for?
The grant is primarily for families with
children under 19 as of 31st March 2021 who may not meet the threshold for benefits
but have been affected directly by the pandemic through job losses,
furlough, taking time off work unpaid to care for children who are isolating
etc and for those who are eligible for free school meals, healthy start
vouchers, young people not in education or training. Some support for other
vulnerable adults is also available where appropriate.
What is available and where?
There are three elements of the grant scheme:
1.
Support to access food – we have boosted the capacity of Blackburn
Foodbank and Darwen Food Larder to support families who are in food
crisis. We have also issued a number of small grants
for extra community food support across Blackburn and
Darwen.
2.
Support with utility bills – we have three local organisations
supporting residents who may be struggling to pay fuel and water bills over
winter. United Utilities are also partnering with us to help the most
vulnerable with their water bills.
3. Support with essential items – support is
available to replace broken washers, cookers, fridges and freezers,
for boiler servicing and repairs and where families are struggling to afford
essential toiletries, sanitary products, warm clothing and blankets.
Who are we working with?
Blackburn Foodbank, Darwen Food Larder, Care
Network, BwD Healthy Living, Rummage Rescuers, Jubilee Tower Credit
Union, United Utilities, Community Business Partners, Community Centres
in BwD
(Small Grants awards can be announced next
week)
How do I refer/signpost families or
individuals for support?
The BwD Help Hub is the central point of
contact for the Winter Grant Scheme. There is an
online referral for our partners to complete (will require you to sign up if you have
not done so previously) which will go straight through to our Community
Connectors and Engagement and Integration Officers. They will pick the referral up and signpost
on to the appropriate service for the relevant support. People can self-refer by telephoning the Help Hub (01254 588111) between
9-5 pm or anytime via the online
form if they
prefer.
Please could we remind you that we require your £1.00 contribution asap for us to get all the Christmas party food, prizes etc.
Thank you
Charlie has returned back to nursery from the North Pole to keep an eye on the children, and get up to some mischief whilst he is here 😄
The children were excited to see Charlie, and will be looking for him each day.
