Rural nursery fills childcare gap

Michael Eavis opened the nursury on Wednesday

A farmer's wife from Lovington has had her nursery opened by fellow farmer and Glastonbury founder, Michael Eavis.

Katherine Farthing built her own nursery after seeing shortages in childcare provision for families living in rural parts of south Somerset.

She had to travel nine miles to leave her daughter at a nursery in Yeovil after she could not find a suitable one closer to home.

Michael Eavis was invited to open the nursery as he also diversified from farming into an unrelated business.

Katherine Farthing, owner of Brue Farm Nursery, said: "I actually had to travel into Yeovil to find a nursery that was right, but when we were looking we realised there was a gap in the market here."

Although there were nurseries in nearby Castle Cary, Street and Shepton Mallet, at the time, Katherine found they had long waiting lists and no year-round wraparound nursery care available between 8am and 6pm which suited her needs.

So far 15 children have registered with the nursury

That was three years ago, and since then, Katherine started her training in childcare to get the necessary qualifications and applied for a grant to build the nursery on the grounds of her home.

"I spoke to my husband, Justin, who is a dairy farmer and his mother Rachel and said to them both, the dairy farm would be the perfect place to have a children's day nursery, a perfect setting with all the space that one could imagine."

She said the location gave youngsters the chance to learn about farming and the countryside and more space to play.

She received a Farm Diversity Grant of around £129,000 which paid for 45 per cent of the build.

So far 15 children have been registered and Katherine is confident more will sign up as more open days have been planned.