Gazette's Nursery of the Year 2018 winner revealed

 Little Jems Nursery based in Swinburne Street, Jarrow, took the top spot after being voted for by parents, carers and members of the community for going above and beyond for the youngsters in its care.

The competition asked readers to tell us which nursery they thought was the best in the area.

They had to pick from the list of nurseries the one that they felt was deserving of some recognition.

Little Jems was delighted to be named the winner, with assistant manager Joanne Telford saying the accolade meant a lot to the nursery staff.

Joanne, 38, from Hebburn, said: “I can’t even describe how overcome we all are to have won. We are very proud.

“We are a small nursery which has not been open for long, so to get the award means so much.”

The nursery, which is managed by Jemma Coulter, 37, is a family-owned nursery, owned by Vivineen White and Sandra Pearce.

It has been open for three years and cares for 48 children aged from six months to four years.

It prides itself on having a family atmosphere and is a Montessori-style nursery, which allows the children to make their own choices on what activities they would like to do.

Joanne, who has been working at the nursery for 18 months, said the award showed how much support they had in the community.

She added: “We have a really good working relationship with all of the parents and carers.

“The staff who work here have a lot of experience and many have children themselves, so they know what it is like to leave their children.

“We have parents from Washington, North Tyneside, Sunderland, and the local area bring their children to us.”

In the competition Westoe Village Kindergarten came in second place, while Stanley’s Day Care based at All Saints Children’s Centre was third.