On a wet morning in Arney, the children are inside, busy in their kitchen set-up, playing with dolls and making shapes with play dough. The walls are adorned with artwork.
TinyTots is a small group at the heart of a rural community but a recent low birth rate in the area has had an impact on the playgroup says leader Rachel Harron.
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Reflecting on the current situation faced by playgroups, she said: “We are only funded per child in the group. There is a low birth rate in the area so our numbers are that bit lower but because we don’t get funded for pre-pre.
“We only get paid for the 14, it doesn’t cover staff wages so we rely on pre-pre coming in. At the minute we only charge £6 per day because we are a voluntary run cross-community group and have tried to keep the cost down for parents but it's getting to the stage where that might not be possible for parents”
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She says the last few years have been “extremely difficult”.
“With us being a voluntary run group, our committee is compiled with parents and that leaves a lot of responsibility on them as well. If there is a shortfall throughout the year of finances, there is an extra demand on the committee and staff to secure extra funding.
“There is a pressure on committee and staff to get extra funding to be able to keep the playgroup open.”
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As for the future, Rachel says she is "worried at the minute because of our numbers coming in as we only get funding per child".
"But, costs are the same, staff costs are the same, nothing has changed in the financial part of it. The group has to find that funding. We have our own fundraising events.
"A couple of weeks ago we did a street collection because we had an unforeseen cost because our boiler broke down. We got some partial funding but had to fundraise.”
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