THREE years of hard work and £16,000-worth of fundraising came to fruition for Portknockie nursery when they unveiled their new activity garden. Tuesday morning saw staff, parents and youngsters gather to see the ribbon cut by former nursery committee member Simone Evans, Thea Evans (5) and Emily Smith (12). Speaking before the event, nursery manager Margaret Eunson said: “This is a really special day for us all. “I’d like to say thanks to all the committee members for their work over the years of this very long project, especially Simone for doing the initial spadework. “Sixteen thousand pounds is a huge amount for a group this size to get in donations. A huge thanks also goes to all the groups who supported us and the wider community. “I hope everyone is happy how we’ve spent the money – we certainly are! “The current committee had t cope with months of stress getting the frames into place – we had hoped to open in the summer and have a garden party but there were delays.
“We hope all children in the village will have the opportunity to access the equipment and enjoy using it.” She added that while the main garden was in place, there was still more work to be done in the future to augment the facility. She added: “When the good weather comes we’ll be looking for volunteers to help paint the garden fence in nice colours.” Following Mrs Eunson’s words of
welcome, a piper led the assembled guests and children out to see the garden officially declared open. It was then time for the youngsters to set about the serious business of trying out the equipment in the garden for themselves. The nursery received £10,000 from the National Lottery, £4000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme and £1000 each from Buckie Co-op and the Historic Wheels Club.