A PLAYGROUP that has used a former church school for nearly 60 years has been given notice to quit.
First Steps Playgroup has occupied the Old School Hall in Barlestone, Leicestershire, but its tenancy is not going to be prolonged, since the constructing is to be sold on the recommendation of the the diocesan board of education.
Trustees for the Barlestone Church of England School Charity, which owns the property “within the said Ecclesiastical Parish of St Giles, Barlestone”, have acted on advice from Leicester Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) for the property to be sold, since it “requires considerable investment to keep up”.
An announcement from the trustees said: “We were under the impression that by renting to First Steps playgroup, who teach Christian values, we were meeting one in all our charitable objectives in that it met the necessity to use the premises for religious education. Unfortunately we’ve got discovered that this doesn’t actually meet the charity’s temporary.”
In the charity’s governing document, which the diocese of Leicester has consulted, educational use of the constructing have to be “throughout the principles and practices of the Church of England”. There was no explicit Church of England governance or leadership in place on the playgroup, or any specifically Anglican character to its curriculum and operations, the diocese concluded.
An worker at First Steps Playgroup confirmed this week that the nursery must vacate the old-fashioned premises “by the Easter holidays”. There was, they said, a level of local sadness because “generations of the area people have come here and been involved with our activities”.
A charity itself, First Steps currently has 41 children on its books, together with 4 members of staff. Its registered income for the yr ending July 2022 was £137,545.
A spokesperson for the Leicester DBE said: “The diocese of Leicester doesn’t own the Old School Hall constructing in Barlestone, but [we] are working with the local trustees to support and advise within the management of the charity.
“The DBE advised the trustees that the present use by the playgroup, though commendable, doesn’t meet its charitable objects and has encouraged alternative arrangements to be made. While the DBE recognises the necessary contribution that the playgroup makes to the village, on condition that the old-fashioned constructing requires considerable investment to keep up, the recommendation is that selling the constructing could be probably the most straightforward option.
“In line with the charity’s stipulations, any funds raised from the sale of the constructing could be used to support children and young people in Barlestone directly.”
