A preschool in Devon might have to close its doors for good following a recent decline in numbers.

Bradford preschool has been running at a loss this past year, meaning it will be forced to close if it doesn’t increase its intake soon.

Due to the learning centre only having two pupils registered for the next academic year, the outcome looks bleak.

The preschool dates back to 1985 and has been a community staple ever since.

The organisation’s administrator, Edwina Williams has been campaigning to try and raise awareness for the rural preschool’s situation.

She said: “We’re just not getting the numbers we need. Ideally we need 12 children. We’ve ran an open day and were gutted that no one turned up, we also post a lot on social media sites to try and get the numbers up.”

Edwina explained that the preschool had good numbers on their books up until July last year.

She said: “This year we had seven and just hoped that we would pick up more as the year goes on. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

The preschool has until April 25 to gain more numbers for next year, as then they have a committee meeting to decide the fate of its future.

The facility has been teaching children from two to school age for the past three decades and it even had a complete purpose built refurbishment in the year 2000 from National Lottery funding.

The site boasts underfloor heating along with soft play for the children to enjoy.

Edwina puts the declining numbers down to the lack of development in the surrounding area.

She said: “Places like Bude and Bradworthy have had housing developments, meaning affordable housing for younger families, unfortunately we haven’t had any of that making us a long way to come for parents.

“Unfortunately it’s the same situation that happened to Pyworthy and some other local schools.”

The closure could also have a detrimental effect on Bradford Primary School as the preschool is imperative for new intake.

Edwina explained: “At the moment four out of five of the children heading from the preschool to primary school are going to Bradford.”

The school in Bradford is a small primary school and is very close to the pre school, due to the rural locality it relies heavily on it feeding into the reception class.

Edwina said: “We really want to save our preschool and it would be such a shame to close such an asset to the local community and such an asset to the local primary school. I hope we can try and save it.

“We would hate for it to close, as well as it having an effect on the primary school.”

If you are interested in placing your child into the preschool, you can get in touch via their Facebook page or by emailing Edwina, [email protected]

More information about what they can offer can be found by visiting the website: www.bradfordpreschool.btck.co.uk