‘Disgusted’ - Campaigners react to South Tyneside Council’s recommendation to close Stanley’s nurseries
The Save Our Stanley’s Campaign is feeling “betrayed” at South Tyneside Council’s recommendation to close ten borough nurseries.
Campaigners calling for South Tyneside Council to keep Stanley’s Daycare Nurseries open have been left feeling “betrayed” and “disgusted”.
It follows a report from the local authority which recommends that the Cabinet makes the decision to close all ten of the South Tyneside Accredited Network for Learning in the Early Years (Stanley’s) centres.
‘We’re still fighting’
Joanna Taylor launched the initial petition calling for Stanley’s to be saved and has vowed that the campaign will continue to fight for the future of the nurseries.
She said: “We’re very disappointed and very upset, this is what we’ve been campaigning for since June 8 and it feels like the council officers have not listened to a single thing anyone of the 12,000 who’ve signed the petition have asked for.
“We’ve been trying and trying to speak to our council representatives - we’ve tried every means possible and we’ve been shot down time and time again, excluding last week when we were heard at a CAF meeting.
“Everyone is shocked and upset but we’re still fighting.”
Furious and betrayed
Declan Taylor has called for councillors for failing to engage with the Save Our Stanley’s campaign over the course of the last few months.
He commented: “I’m furious and feeling a little bit betrayed, the statements that they’ve put out state that the parents have been engaged but we haven’t.
“We’re really angry because we’ve been trying to engage in good faith the entire way along and that hasn’t been reciprocated.
“They’ve not even been open to pretending to be engaged, I’ve been blocked by multiple councillors on social media for just asking questions about Stanley’s.
“Other councillors have given fairly inappropriate comments towards myself and others.
“Just because the officers are proposing one thing, it doesn’t mean the Cabinet has to go ahead with it.”
Concerned for children
Eve Sanders has expressed her concerns over where her three young children will attend nursery should Stanley’s close in July 2027.
She stated: “I’m concerned about my little boy who currently attends Stanley’s because he loves it there and the staff are fantastic.
“My twin baby girls are due to start in April 2027 so I’m really concerned about where they will go if Stanley’s closes.
“I’ve already explored other options and one nursery told me that there wouldn’t be space until the beginning of 2028 but I need to go back to work before then.”
‘I’m disgusted’
Rachel Freeman has revealed that Stanley’s staff only heard about the report’s recommendation just minutes before it was released to the public.
She commented: “I’m disgusted that it is being handled in this way - the staff have found out while looking after children in the nurseries.
“They’ve got a no-phone policy so they are finding out at different times when they are going for breaks - some notifications even went to parents before they went to staff.
“The report talks about a hypothesis of the staff moving across to private nurseries but they can’t guarantee that the infrastructure and sufficiency of nursery places is actually there.”
South Tyneside Council has stressed that its Cabinet hasn’t made a final decision on Stanley’s and won’t do so ahead of the meeting on September 23.