LITTLE Bears Pre-School in Shebbear recently received a cheque for £2,500 from Holsworthy Energy Services Co, towards the creation of a new outdoor shelter.

Staff at the pre-school are looking to build an outdoor classroom/shelter to provide a stimulating area for the children to use, thus extending the facilities already on offer.

The basic quote for the shelter was £2,695, but they are also looking to develop the ground outside at the same time to make it more useable throughout the year. This means additional costs of approximately £3,380.

A pre-school spokesperson said:?"This is a new project. We are looking to fund this from grants because, as with many rural pre-schools, numbers fluctuate.

"We have to fundraise ourselves through bingo, quiz nights etc, and these monies are used to meet costs of running the pre-school, especially when numbers are low.

"Our running costs are always the same, whether we have three children or 14, so we have to save for a rainy day and further development on a grand scale without outside help is not really an option.

"We hope with this project the pre-school would further develop its facilities and make us more sustainable in the future."

They would like to build a covered area with seating, a black board, musical chimes, and abacus and letter board, where the children could play, talk and hear stories. They also want to give it a local environment film, with animals and plants painted by the children.

The wooden structure would also provide a sheltered area for parents and carers to wait in when collecting their children.

Little Bears Pre-School is based within the grounds of the local primary school, and has its own classroom and outside area, whilst children can also share the playground.