Burton nursery to work hand in hand with YMCA after choosing it as their charity for 2018

A Burton nursery has joined forces with homeless charity YMCA to help make a difference to the less fortunate in the community.

The Co-operative childcare nursery, which is based at Burton's Queen's Hospital, has chosen YMCA Burton as their charity of the year for 2018 after parents of children at the nursery voted for the organisation.

The nursery team will now work with the YMCA to support fund-raising, volunteer their time and raise awareness of the work the charity does to support people in the town.

Paula Senior, fund-raising officer at YMCA Burton, said: "We were thrilled to receive the call from Sian Edwards, nursery manager, informing us that we had been chosen. A key area of our service is working with families in crisis, offering mediation to minimise conflict and improve home life and outcomes within the family setting.

"We also operate a foodbank that is available for anyone to access several times a year, in addition to our core homelessness services. We look forward to working with the team during the next 12 months as they volunteer for us, fund-raise and find out more about our vital support services.

"Their first fund-raising event is taking place on March 23 and will be a Stayawake-athon. The team will be staying up all night, helping at our night shelter and Reconnect, plus meeting some of our team members."

Sian Edwards, senior nursery manager, said: "We are delighted to have the YMCA Burton as our charity partner for 2018, chosen through a democratic vote from our parents and carers. The Co-operative Childcare Burton is looking forward to fund-raising for such a worthwhile cause.

"We support children by giving a caring and nurturing environment where they can grow, develop and thrive.

"One of our nursery values which we pride ourselves on is 'giving back to the local community' and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to work collaboratively and raise funds to support those in need. We will also aim to raise awareness of the key issues affecting families."

The Burton YMCA's charity core work and principal activities are to benefit the public and communities through housing, outreach, foodbank, mediation and counselling.