The lovely Busy Bees Playgroup will be closing its doors very soon, and they’d like to say an enormous THANK YOU to all their past pupils, parents and supporters over the last 50 plus years!
The playgroup, based at Henfield Youth Club, has running since the 1960’s and has been a registered charity for the last 20 years. They welcomed children at the old Youth Club building in Nep Town Road before moving to the modern new Youth Club on the King’s Field back in 2004.
Val Bentley, current treasurer of the charity, said; “We are so disappointed to be closing our doors. Busy Bees has enjoyed having lots of local pre-school children at the playgroup over the years, we’ve seen them grow and flourish and enjoyed preparing them for their primary school lives ahead. It’s been a wonderful privilege and we have some very happy memories. We’ve seen new generations of the same family which is always a pleasure, as well as welcomed new families who have moved to the village.”
Val started helping out in 1992 when her children began their nursery education at Busy Bees. In 1999 she became co-Manager with Cathy Souter and Tricia Manuell, then Gillian Otsuka was appointed as sole Manager in 2011. Gillian commented; “We have had a wonderful time with the children, we will really miss everyone and it’s with great sadness that we’re going. The staff here are would like to thank all the parents for their kindness and support.”
Chairman Agnieszka Kwiatkowska said, on behalf of all the parents; “I was always impressed by the individual child approach; every child felt unique and every family was listened to. The positive learning through play that Busy Bees provided meant that every child’s interests were explored, from building up role play activities to parents bringing in their own skills to share. Looking at my children’s journals I am very sad that such lively, arty playgroup has to close because of low numbers. A big Thank You to all the ladies who work at Busy Bees, for being like second mothers to our children.”
The playgroup has suffered from falling numbers recently and sadly doesn’t have quite enough children booked for September intake to continue. Reluctantly, the volunteers on the Committee decided with great regret that it was not financially possible to continue.
Henfield will miss this sunny, happy little playgroup where playing, friendship and enjoyable learning is the order of the day.