'Joyful' Glyn Ceiriog pre-school in danger of closing
The Welsh-English pre-school is a large part of the local community and is 'integral' to the primary education in the Ceiriog valley.
Cylch Meithrin is sited at Ysgol Cynddelw and provides not only a pre-school but also the after-school club and boasts a small forest area so a lot of time is spent outside.
It is feared the closure would have huge knock-on effect locally and children who use Cylch told of the importance of the pre-school in their lives.
Orla Young, 8, is a member of the after-school club and said: 'I like playing and the opportunity to make new friends.
"It's fun, joyful, and the staff really care about the children that come."
According to Katie Marcham, Chair of the Glyn Ceiriog Cylch Meithrin Committee, the pre-school's close relationship with Ysgol Cynddelw allows toddlers 'to step seamlessly from early years education into primary school without it feeling like they're changing setting at all'.
'Losing Cylch would mean parents having to take their children out of the Ceiriog Valley in order to access early education and many may not be able to do so, meaning they miss out altogether,' said Ms Marcham.
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'Not only that, but fewer children would spend their early entitlement at the school, and those using the after-school club may have to be educated elsewhere; not only would all of this lose Ysgol Cynddelw valuable funding, but for those children may mean being schooled away from their local area.
Anyone wishing to donate to help save Cylch Meithrin can do so via: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cylchglynceiriog?utm_medium=CR&utm_source=CL
Ms Marcham explained that the funding issues had been caused by rising administrative costs which were now under control and that if they could raise the money the funding would be secured permanently.
'We have worked to get costs down in recent months but we still have funding issues. We have worked out if it wasn't for the summer holidays coming up we could just keep going and it would be fine.
"But we have six weeks there with no income and we still have to pay staff
'We are just hoping to get some donations to see us through and pick up in September and go from strength to strength."
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