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A long-standing east Auckland creche beloved by the local parents who use its services is set to close its doors after running out of funding.
The not-for-profit Highland Park Community Creche is located at Highland Park Community House in Aviemore Drive.
It caters for up to 16 children aged one to five years old and offers parents a flexible, community-minded alternative to full-day daycare.
The creche is led by centre manager Lisa Chong, who took over the role in February following the retirement of team leader Sue Ellis.
Lisa has had the sad job of informing the creche’s parents, and the Ministry of Education, that it will close on June 27.
“There’s a few contributing factors,” she told the Times about the impending closure.
“We have a decrease in our roll. Many of our children when they turn two years old head to kindergarten because they’re offering free fees, which hasn’t happened before in our history, combined with quite a bit of change in the funding.
“Two-year-olds, which are our biggest enrolment, have the smallest amount of funding, which we’re struggling with, combined with teacher wages being a tough one at the moment.
“There’s been lots of little things all come together which means the small centres, which have small numbers, can’t survive.”
Lisa says she and the creche’s teachers will do relief work once it closes and its parents will need to find somewhere else to send their children.
“Many of our children have been offered some spaces at kindergarten.
“Our biggest concern is our two-year-olds who have high needs.
“They’re going into kindergartens with a one-to-10 ratio, and they currently have a one-to-five ratio.
“The parents are a bit worried about whether our two-year-olds are going to cope in the big kindergarten settings, but that’s the only option left to them because they don’t want full-day daycare.
“All of our parents have children with needs the full-day daycares don’t work for.
“That’s the biggest challenge.”
She says the creche’s parents are saddened by the situation and they’ve provided a lot of support to try to keep it operating.
“They’ve asked how they can help, but it’s a funding issue, so that’s a bit tricky.”
And she expects June 27, when the creche’s doors shut for good, will be a long day.
“We have a set of really lovely parents who have all decided to stay with us all the way through to June 27.
“I’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who came through and who’s supported us.
“We’ve really enjoyed having everyone’s children and engaging with their families and the community.
“It’s been really lovely having everyone support us over the years and enrol with us.
“The creche has our heart in the community. We’re not a big profit creche and it’s been nice to have parents come and go and have parents stay.
“We have one child here now and I think he’s child number three [from his family] who’s come through.
“It’s been really lovely to have the support from the community, and it isn’t through lack of support that we’re closing.
“It’s hard out there and kindergartens offering free [daycare] for two-year-olds is financially a better decision for some families and you can’t blame them for that.
“It’s a sign of the times unfortunately. These big corporates that have 10 or more centres can survive as they all support each other, but these small centres, we have a roll of 16.
“It’s hard to survive and there’s very few of them left.”
News of the creche’s impending closure has led to an outpouring of sadness on its Facebook page and other community social media.
One mum wrote that she and her two children were “heartbroken”, while many other parents thanked the creche and its staff for caring for their children.
The Times spoke to one local mum, who doesn’t want to be named, who has one child at the creche currently and had two older children attend it previously.
She’s also been a member of the creche’s parent committee.
“I’m absolutely devastated,” she says.
“I’ve cried a lot. It’s a real loss for the community and it’s just really sad.
“For me, I felt like I was dropping them [her children] off to family.
“They’ve always felt really loved there and they’ve had lots of fun.
“They’ve produced the most amazing art. Our house has always been filled with the joy they’ve created at the creche. I’ve always gone to collect happy boys.”
The mum says the creche has been impacted by the economic climate.
“I think it’s just the nature of where we’re at at the moment with the cost of living.
“We’ve tried really hard to do things differently and to fundraise. It’s always survived on grants and fundraising.
“Short of things being less expensive, which we’ve obviously got very little control over, I don’t know if there was anything else we could have done.
“Some kindys are able to offer some free hours, which we couldn’t compete with.”
Her own son will be moving from the creche to a kindergarten.
“I think it’s going to leave a huge gap for families who want a different service than what’s offered elsewhere,” she says.
“For your under-twos or two-year-olds, there’s nothing that I’m aware of like it.
“It will be really sad for those families. Also, because of the small ratios, they’ve been able to have kids who have extra needs.
“I don’t know what options there are for those kids who need a little bit more.”
The mum becomes emotional when asked what she wants to say to the creche’s staff.
“Just a huge ‘thank you’. They’ve been amazing and they’ve changed my parenting journey.
“I think if it wasn’t for them I probably would’ve not really been able to manage the younger years.
“A huge ‘thank you’ for providing such a warm and welcoming environment for our kids.
“They really feel like family to me. I think it’s a really sad reflection on where we’re at with the world.
“We [the creche and its parents] are a community. We want to help and support each other and that’s what they’ve created.”
