'Pre-schools like ours won't survive if we can't find new homes'

A lack of suitable premises is putting pressure on voluntary preschools to stay open, a nursery struggling to find a new home has said.

Rainbow Corner has been based in the same Orange hall since 1979, but has been told by its landlord it needs to leave by the end of June 2027.

After months searching for a new home, the pre-school's committee said it had exhausted every option within a five-mile radius and now faced closure.

Teacher Alison Toole told BBC News NI it had left staff feeling stressed that they may not have a job after the next school year.

Unlike statutory pre-schools which are run by the Education Authority (EA), private and voluntary nurseries have to source their own accommodation, and staff at Rainbow Corner said the increasing use of church and community halls for other purposes left organisations like them in a difficult position.

Rainbow Corner's landlord, Deramore Community Group, said it had enjoyed a "mutually respectful relationship" with the pre-school for many years and it was with "sincere regret that due to our own programme of events we are no longer in a position to offer our facilities on a long-standing lease beyond 30 June 2027".

Daniella Mediondo de Lima's daughter Aria went to Rainbow Corner three years ago and her son Eliot will attend next year.

She told BBC News NI she was very worried about what closure would mean for the future of children in an area where pre-schools were regularly oversubscribed.

"I feel very heartbroken," she said. "I can see new developments in the area, and so many babies around, and I just feel like, where are they going to go knowing that the other pre-schools around are full?"

In November, Rainbow Corner, in Moira in County Down, received a letter from the owners of Deramore Orange Hall asking it to leave by 30 June 2027.

Rainbow Corner said despite the notice period running until the end of the next academic year, it needed to find a new home by autumn so the EA could approve it as a suitable venue.

Alison Toole said that despite searching for an appropriate venue for months the pre-school had been unable to find a new location.

"It came as a bit of a shock for us but we are extremely disappointed that we're having to leave our setting," she said.

"Our current setting has a great space inside for the children. We have somewhere to store our equipment and we have a fabulous garden for the children to use.

"It would just be very unsettling and sad if that's not there any more for them.

"As staff, as you can imagine, it's difficult because we won't know if we have a job.

"We worry about it every day. It's a constant stressor for us to be honest but we just come into work every day, get on with our job, and try to provide the best education we can."

Deramore Community Group said it had given an "extended period of notice, far beyond what we were legally and contractually required to serve" in order to ensure "Rainbow Corner are given as much time as possible to obtain alternative accommodation".

"As residents of Moira ourselves, we will continue to support Rainbow Corner in their efforts to obtain new accommodation, and our own members are actively engaging and enquiring with other potential locations within the village and surrounding area," the group added.

Toole said finding a new space was very challenging for an organisation such as Rainbow Corner which is a charity, in comparison to a nursery run by the EA.

"We have exhausted all empty buildings, churches, local halls, everything like that, but unfortunately they are used for other community groups," she said.

"It's a very busy community and unfortunately if we do not find another premises we will not be part of that community."

Voluntary nurseries like Rainbow Corner are attended by 29% of pre-primary children in Northern Ireland.

Laura Coney's daughter Sophia was born prematurely at 24 weeks and Rainbow Corner was the first place outside her family where she had been looked after.

She said she had an "absolutely fantastic" experience there.

"I just don't think it's an option for Rainbow Corner not to continue," the 34-year-old said.

"If I had any other children I would 100% put them into the Rainbow Corner setting. It's been second to none."

Speaking at a public meeting to discuss the issue, she said the location was also very important.

"Rainbow Corner is right on our doorstep which is so handy for us even to make it on school on time," she said.

"It's also so important that we can walk, you're not adding extra traffic to the village.

"We cycle, walk, scoot to nursery every single day."

The importance of the location was echoed by Stephen Rankin, whose son Moses attends the pre-school.

"It has to stay here, it has to be somewhere in Moira itself, because there is such a demand," he said.

"They're building so many more houses here and we have to meet those needs, so it has to stay here."