Here you can read our latest news, opinion pieces and information on the early years sector

Blog

hello@more2nurseries.com

More2Childcare has retained its Ofsted Outstanding grade, at our recent inspection (July 2023). This is in addition to More2Riverside also being awarded Ofsted Outstanding (April 2022).  As of Sept 2023, these are the only two private nurseries in SE10 to have the top grade.

020 8853 3644

Breaking News

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Youtube

General Info

Within the Community Buildings at the back of the Forum at Greenwich. Trafalgar Road, London SE10 9EQ. The main entrance to More2childcare is off Christchurch Way.

2 River Gardens Walk, Greenwich, SE10 0FZ. It is diagonally opposite the Pelton Arms Pub on Banning Street. The main entrance is via steps up from Banning Street.

Staff and children at More2Childcare Nursery in Greenwich are celebrating after retaining their Outstanding Ofsted Grade.  

More2Childcare has been awarded the top mark again by Ofsted, following an Inspection at the end of July 2023 (the previous and first inspection was in 2018).

They now join their sister nursery More2Riverside to become the only two privately owned Ofsted Outstanding Nurseries in the SE10 postcode area (as of 29th August 2023) since Ofsted started to inspect under the new statutory framework (introduced in September 2021).

The results were officially celebrated with the children and parents of the nursery with decorations in the garden.

Kelly Salambasis, Eve Daniels and Glenda Alexander, Co-Owners who opened the nursery in 2016, along with Director of Childcare, Rosie Bennett who oversees daily operations, say they are “over the moon” to have achieved the top rating.


They added “We are incredibly proud of the team at More2Childcare – it’s incredibly tough to get the top grade. A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to retain the highest standards and it really is testament to our amazing Director of Childcare and professional and committed staff team.They strive every day to go above and beyond for the children in their care”.

Some of the highlights from the Ofsted report read:

Children are highly motivated and self-assured learners.

All children, including those who receive additional funding, make secure progress across all areas of learning.

Leaders devise an ambitious and a well-designed curriculum that stretches children and they reach their full potential.

The dedicated staff team know children extremely well

Staff set high expectations for children's learning and use their knowledge of child development very well to plan for what children need to learn

Children of all ages benefit from highly stimulating and engaging learning experiences.

Not only do children acquire skills in readiness for school, but they are also well prepared for life.

Children feel extremely happy, safe and content in the nursery. Staff set high expectations for children's behaviour. Children are highly confident and behave well for their age

More2Childcare retains Ofsted Outstanding

If you're looking for a Greenwich nursery space for your 2 year old in September 2023 or before - More2Childcare has a handful of full and part time spaces remaining.  Act quickly to avoid disappointment.  Places are a minimum of 2 full days.

2 year olds at More2 are spoilt for choice.  With 3 rooms  (main room, a soft play/jungle room and a role play room) plus a large outdoor area, there is never a dull moment.

The room is led by Elina Woodham, who has worked in early years education for over 15 years, she is ably assisted by a very competent and committed staff team.

If you are looking for a nursery start before September - please contact Sarah our Admissions Manager to arrange a tour - 

2 Year Old Spaces More2Childcare

At More2Nurseries we are committed to training and helping staff to achieve further qualifications in Early Years.   A well qualified workforce means better staff retention and better learning opportunities for the children in their care. At any one time up to a third of our staff, at either nursery, are studying for a further qualification.

At More2Riverside at the end of last year Billie Willis-Moore completed her Level 3 in Early Years NVQ and was followed last month by Rebecca Sweeney and Billie Cloke.  At More2Childcare Chloe Jeffreys has just been awarded her Level 3 qualification.

Celebrating Staff Achievements and New Qualifications

More2Nurseries celebrate their strong links with the local community.  From coffee mornings, to membership schemes with local businesses and engaging with local charities to offer education, teaching and investment.  

It's also really important that we extend this to the children at nursery.  Our pres-schoolers are enjoying learning about "people who help us".  From firefighters to doctors, vets, car mechanics - it's really caught the children's attention.

We were therefore delighted to welcome 3 Police Officers to both nurseries on Friday to reinforce our theme.  Children had so many questions - one of the most popular was  "when are you going catch the bad guys"?  They got to try on the helmet, the hand cuffs, and the vest.   Perhaps there will be some future police Officers amongst this group of children?

We look forward to lots more activities, fun and learning around this topic, following the children's interests.

Links with the Community

Under 5s at More2Riverside Nursery in Greenwich are celebrating being awarded Outstanding by Ofsted.

More2Riverside has been given the top mark by Ofsted in the report they received on 4th May, following an Inspection in early April.

They now join their sister nursery More2Childcare to become the only two privately owned Ofsted Outstanding Nurseries in the SE10 postcode area (as of 5th May 2022) since Ofsted started to inspect under the new statutory framework (introduced in September 2021).

The results were officially celebrated with the children and parents of the nursery with themed cupcakes and decorations in the garden.

Kelly Salambasis, Eve Daniels and Glenda Alexander, Co-Owners who opened the nursery in 2019, along with Manager Rosie Bennett who oversees daily operations, say they are “over the moon” to have achieved the top rating.


They added “Just one year after opening, whilst still getting established the Pandemic hit and we were only able to open to a handful of keyworker children for 2 months during April and March 2020.It was an incredibly stressful time as business owners. But we have come through it and are thrilled to achieve Outstanding at the first inspection. It really is testament to our amazing Manager and professional and committed staff team. They strive every day to go above and beyond for the children in their care”.

More2 does the Ofsted Outstanding Double

Do you remember the nursery rhyme “Mary had a Little Lamb”? The second verse tells us

Fortunately in 2022, lambs are now allowed to visit schools (with the right risk assessments) and More2 was delighted to be able to introduce Dotty the Welsh Lamb to the children at our two Greenwich Nurseries and other local schools and playgroups.

Adorable Dotty was born at Easter on the Welsh family farm of Eve Daniels, one of the co-owners of More2.  Dotty was the youngest of a set of triplets and had a complicated start to her life. Sadly, both her brother’s died and her mother was so tired she rejected Dotty when she was born. Eve and her family successfully hand reared her and with lots of care Dotty is now a very healthy and happy lamb. The decision was taken for her to visit London as the farm had reached the end of lambing season and Dotty would have been lonely in the barn by herself. The farmer agreed a short visit and she will return to the fields to live the rest of her life as a breeding ewe.

Living in an urban environment, some children may not get to meet farm animals. For some of our under 5s this was their first up close encounter with a farm animal. The children enjoyed giving Dotty her bottle of milk as well as stroking and sitting with her. Eve prepared a fact sheet for staff and meeting the lamb has led to lots of questions, interest and further farm animal activities for the More2 children. Dotty really enjoys human company and cuddles as you can see from the photos.

After visiting More2 Eve made contact with other local under 5 groups and schools for further visits and Dotty travelled to The Bridge – East Greenwich, A Greenwich Brownies group, Aspire Primary School, Mary Magdelene School and a school in East London. Community is at the heart of our vision and we are happy to share experiences with our neighbours.

Dotty the Welsh Lamb goes on tour

The Directors (and a friend) had a great time supporting the Ahoy Centre at a fundraising quiz on 10th March. Organised by the River Gardens Residents Association, More2Nurseries was in fine company with local book reading groups, residents and businesses. Amazing food and drink was provided by hosts The River Gardens Café (one of our membership partners). The Ahoy Centre in SE8 is a Watersports charity who change lives and build life skills through sailing and rowing. 

.  We love being part of a strong community.

Fundraising quiz for the Ahoy Centre

Run by Keri Hartwright a paediatric nurse, in association with More2Nurseries, this two hour course covers: CPR, recovery position, choking, head injuries, febrile convulsions/temperature management, burns and recognising a sick child.

Venue: More2Riverside, 2 River Garden Walk, Banning Street SE10 0FZ

Info: following strict covid guidelines with limited places

Price: £25 per More2 member or £40 per couple

To book please email our office Manager Sarah Murphy at 

You can read below what a couple of our previous attendees thought of the course

"Just a short message to thank you for an absolutely excellent course! I have learned so much and loved the quality of content and delivery and ability to practice!

I have attended upon recommendation of another More2 mum and I will now recommend to everyone I know!"

"Keri was a fantastic teacher giving vital and practical information to help parents feel more confident about giving first aid in an emergency.

She was very patient and happy to give specific advice - as well as build confidence for those completely new to this."

Family First Aid Course - 9th March 2022

After a little break due to covid, we are thrilled that Kidslingo are back in person at More2Nurseries Greenwich, November 2021, offering weekly Spanish lessons to our preschool children.

Before the Pandemic Jen from Kidslingo had introduced some of our children to music, movement and story telling in Spanish. The children had so much fun with Kidslingo, More2 made the decision to invest in Kidslingo making it free for every preschool child at nursery.

"Hola! My name is Jen and I run Kidslingo Greenwich & Woolwich. I'm a passionate linguist and a fluent Spanish speaker, having grown up in the buzzing metropolis of Mexico City. I have a BA Honours Degree in Spanish and Italian and have taught nursery age and primary school children in Mexico, Italy and the UK. I have recently had a little girl who I am raising as bilingual with some Italian and French thrown in! In my free time you can find me wild swimming in a lake, the ocean or doing laps of the charlton lido, sipping copious amounts of earl grey tea and eating tacos heaped with fresh guacamole."

Kidslingo's gold-accredited, multi-award winning classes combine music, movement, drama and makaton, whilst having the added benefit of learning Spanish. Our fun, interactive and engaging language programme is designed to support all areas of the new statutory EYFS framework and will complement the other activities your children are involved in on a daily basis at More2 & More2Riverside. Learning a language is hugely beneficial in early years with significant short and long term benefits including:

- Increased self-confidence and self-esteem

- Enhanced listening, communication and social skills

- Improvements in English language development

- A greater depth of understanding of the wider world

 gold accredited, kids’ language franchise. Our aim is simple – 

to inspire young children from birth to age 11 years to love languages

. Everyday we successfully bring our unique methodology of learning languages through fun to 

 in nurseries, primary schools, after school clubs, baby and pre-school classes, child-minders, Home Education groups and online across the UK.

*New* Free Spanish lessons for all More2 Pre-schoolers

More2Nurseries has a brand new look website to reflect our new branding and everything that More2Nurseries encompasses. The url remains the same at 

This site has been custom built to our requirements and we hope that you find it easy to navigate around.

We don’t just have a brand new look, we also upgraded our blog where you can find up to date news and also new pages on our partners, curriculum, membership scheme, More2Parents events and more

The site features more real-life photos of our gardens, rooms, staff and the fun and learning that happens on a daily basis.

New website launched

As a Community Interest Company and our commitment to 

 all children - More2Childcare is able to offer a limited number of completely free places.  

This depends on certain criteria such as if your child has additional needs or if your family receives certain benefits.  The total number of free hours is 15 hours a week, 38 weeks a year.

Free early learning for three and four year olds

A limited number of completely free places are available for 15 hours a week, 38 weeks a year.

Inclusive Offering - Free Places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds

More2Nurseries are delighted to announce that we are national winners of the coveted Nursery World Awards 2021 – taking the title in two categories – Working with Parents and Community Support. We are absolutely delighted and so proud, to take one of the top UK accolades for the early years sector.

A few representatives from the nursery were able to celebrate at a ceremony at the Brewery in London on Saturday night, where we were presented on the stage with the awards.

 – the judges praised our excellent innovative model and support in the community. They praised our support channel to parents who might need it via MoreParents, local business partners who provide support and our More2Membership programme. Our career coaching programme with Emma Fulton, First Aid with Keri Hartwright and financial advice with Gingko were highlighted. Additionally, our mental well-being support was mentioned, alongside the support we were able to give to keyworker families and critical workers in the local area during Lockdown in 2020.

 – the judges commented we have a “well organised neighbourhood initiative which is targeted at meeting the needs of the most vulnerable families”. From our conception, More2Nurseries has always put community first, offering additional support to families through our More2parents and More2membership discount scheme and reaching out to the local community by engaging with local businesses, charities and CICs to offer services, education, teaching and financial investment. Profit has been invested in redesigning the local Forum Community Centre’s gardens and raising funds for various charities. During the pandemic, food collection was increased to neighbouring communities via Clockhouse Community Centre. As well as long-standing partnerships with MumsAid and the Bridge in East Greenwich Pleasaunce. #nurseryworldawards2021 #nwawards

Double Award Winners - Nursery World Awards

More2Nurseries have reached the final round of the prestigious Nursery World Awards for not just one, but two awards. We are delighted to have beaten off competition from hundreds of nurseries around the UK to reach the shortlist for the following awards:

The Nursery World awards shine a light on best practice and helps to raise the profile of the sector. Through all the challenges that face them, dedicated professionals continue to improve their skills and qualifications and do a fantastic job for young children. Winners are chosen by a prominent panel of expert judges that is representative of the diversity of disciplines and organisations that make up the sector. The Awards ceremony takes place in September and we look forward to updating you with how we get on!

Nursery world awards finalists!

We are delighted that both our nurseries have been awarded their Healthy Years London Award – First Steps, from the Mayor of London. This recognises that we are committed to the project and want to share knowledge and good practice with the nursery children, parents and staff.

The programme supports and recognises achievements in child health, wellbeing and development in early years settings.

, HEYL helps to reduce health inequalities by supporting a healthy start to life across themes that include healthy eating, oral and physical health and early cognitive development.

HEYL complements and enhances the statutory 

 framework, adding to the focus on children, families and staff health and wellbeing.

We are awaiting an appointment so we can be assessed for our Bronze Award and look forward to documenting the next steps with our community.

Healthy years london first steps award

We were so happy that the Mayor was able to join us for 

fifth birthday anniversary on Wednesday 21st April.

Prior to the celebration, it was all systems go!

The Directors came in to finish tidying and cleaning up the garden. The flower beds were replanted with flowers and fruit trees and the forest school area got a revamp. Nora, Yvonne and Melinda had been busy decorating the garden with bunting and balloons Kelly Clark made some amazing themed cup cakes. In the rooms, the children were busy practising their songs. It was a real team effort.

On the day of the celebration it was dry and bright outside and the garden looked perfect. The children say perfectly, waiting their turn to perform to the Mayor.

Emphasising our strong links with different cultures and language expertise the songs were from Ghana and Italy plus Runners favourite counting song in different languages including Japanese. They finished with an upbeat tempo version of – The Wheels on the Bus. The Mayor joined in with some of the actions and answered a variety of questions about her chain and badge from the curious older children.

The Mayor, who has formerly worked in Early Years and as a Primary Head Teacher, commented she was delighted to see the children enjoying the outdoor space which is so important to their development, especially in urban areas.

We were all so pleased to be able to safely mark this occasion outside. To have reached five years of operation means we count ourselves as an independent, established and trusted 

More2Childcare's fifth birthday celebration with the Mayor of Greenwich

There is a lot to think about when you are looking for the right nursery for your child. It’s a big decision and an important one! We understand that you want to make sure you make the right choice for you and your child, but you might not be sure where to start.

are always happy to help and answer any questions or concerns you have. To help you with your decision making, here are the top 10 questions we get asked most from families in their search for a Greenwich nursery...

1) Can I send my child to nursery for free?

all 3- and 4-years olds are entitled to 15 hours of

 funded childcare each week for 38 weeks a year from an 

 early years setting. You can spread the 15 hours over two days or more, which can help if you're working or studying and you can also spread the 15 hours across more than one provider (although not all providers can accommodate this). If your child is eligible, your nursery will claim the funding for the free hours on your child's behalf. The funding is available from the term after your child turns 3 and stops when your child enters Reception class in school. You may also be entitled to claim for 

 each week, dependent upon your working hours, income, and circumstances.

The cost of a nursery session will depend upon the age of your child, the length and frequency of the sessions they attend and 

 they are eligible for any funded hours. As part of More2Nursery pricing information, we also forecast traditional nursery monthly costs from April 2021 for a variety of age and funding scenarios to help with your budgeting and decision making.

3) What is the best age to enrol your child with a nursery?

There is no right or wrong age to send a child to nursery and each decision will be driven by many factors including cost, personal circumstances, and personal preference. Our

 welcomes children from aged 3 months to 4 years and our 

 welcomes children from 3 months up to 3 and a half years. For peace of mind and to avoid disappointment, we advise registering your child with a nursery as early as possible as spaces are limited.

4) How do I find the best nursery near me?

A good starting point to select the right local nursery is to contact your local children's centre or 

 or County Council. They can provide you with a list of 

 list of places that your child can attend. All childcare providers (excluding Nannies and Au-pairs) are registered with 

 (the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) and measured against a set of national standards. You can read 

 for judgements derived from the inspections along with more information on specific details for each setting. We would recommend you also speak with and see local nurseries for yourself. Even with the current restrictions, many settings have adapted to providing 

 can provide you with more detailed information such as which have access to outside space. Outside space in Greenwich nurseries is a rarity so we are incredibly proud that both our sites offer this; our Ofsted Outstanding original Greenwich nursery based at the rear of the Forum benefits from two large outdoor playgrounds, whilst our Riverside Greenwich nursery has one of the largest gardens in the East Greenwich area.

6) What activities can nurseries do with children during Covid-19?

All nurseries have had to adapt to the current Covid-19 restrictions. At More2, we can still offer lots of activities safely, indoors and outdoors – even in the rain! We enjoy planting and water play – we have handwashing stations where the children like to play. We change the water regularly and add a little bit of soap to it. As soon as a child finishes playing with a toy or group of children have finished – the toys are sprayed, cleaned, and put away. Then everyone washes their hands again. We put out activities and toys following children’s interests – then they are sprayed cleaned and with different toys put out for variety.

7) How are nurseries managing transition periods/settling in during Covid-19?

At More2, parents are not allowed past the reception area and they hand over the children by keeping 2m distance and then off they go. Some new children found it hard to separate at first, but we helped them build confidence; offered reassurance from the same member of staff staying with the child until the child felt comfortable. Like all good transitions, we encouraged them, we know their likes and dislikes and offered lots of comfort including hugs if they cried or couldn’t sleep. We just avoid face to face cuddles and we all wash our hands a lot. The children have got used to this new normal – surprisingly quickly.

Early years settings remain low-risk environments for young children and all settings are required to follow strict Covid-19 

. The guidelines are designed to support early years settings to create an environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced to keep everyone safe and secure. We are one of a few nurseries in Greenwich to have stayed safely open throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic and lockdowns.

9) What are the Covid-19 guidelines for nurseries?

 for nurseries on how to manage provision during Covid-19 and what to do if a child or adult displays symptoms, or is a confirmed case, of coronavirus within the nursery.

10) What are the specific Covid-19 risk assessments and procedures?

We reviewed and revised our nursery operation procedures in response to the Government's published guidelines. Parents and staff quickly got used to social distancing and embraced the new procedures. Our team is providing an exemplary practice in this area of which we are immensely proud. Parents whose children have been in our care during lockdown have praised our services in recent testimonials.

So, there you have it – answers to our top 10 most frequently asked questions - we do hope this helps you in your nursery search.

If you still have questions or you are interested in booking a tour, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with the team at either of our two Greenwich nurseries; 

 or email us at admissions@more2nurseries.com. We’d love to hear from you.

Your top 10 most frequently asked questions when looking for a nursery

We are delighted to let our families know that both More2 nurseries in Greenwich have signed up to an award winning accredited “Just Quality Award” with Jigsaw Early Years Consultancy. At our Greenwich nurseries we are committed to raising our standards of care and excellence at all times. Ofsted is just one route (and a snap judgement of 8 hours of observation) of demonstrating this.

This award-winning, accredited programme will help us demonstrate and evidence this. Not only is it a great way to evaluate our practice and show how we are adding impact but an excellent way of ensuring we are showcasing our own learning journey. This programme is twelve months long, showing our journey of reflection, action and impact.

This programme is twelve months long, showing our journey of reflection, action and impact. At the end of the twelve months, we receive an inspection by the just quality team (run by Ex Ofsted Inspector) and if we pass we receive the award. We look forward to sharing with you how we are getting on.

Just quality award

 urge to hibernate can come across all of us at one time or another and perhaps even more so this winter. However tempting this may be, there is a real need to keep an eye on the future, so you are best prepared for when ‘normal’ life returns. None more so than when planning for your child’s development and learning.

If you haven’t yet registered your child for a nursery place, it is not too late.

But by not planning for the potential changes ahead you may run the risk of being left with no options at all. What happens as restrictions are relaxed and your employer requests a return to working from the office rather than from home, leaving you with no childcare options? Or as more of your child’s peers enrol in early years settings, yours is left behind with no space available at your preferred nursery.

Early years (from birth to 5 years old) is one of the most critical time periods in child development and learning. During this period, parents, carers, and early years practitioners have a collective fundamental role in preparing children both for school and for life.

Simple, fun activities like chat, play, and reading together help children to build their cognitive, social, and fine motor skills. A quality early years education, including home learning activities, supports a child’s progress in improving their early language skills and their understanding of the world. Human contact and interaction are crucial to early healthy development; remote contact and learning experiences cannot replace this. Where early gaps in school readiness develop, they can continue to widen throughout the school years and those with quality early education experiences are more likely to achieve better academic outcomes compared with those who had not.

Weaving chat, play and reading together into everyday tasks can turn the home into a learning environment and help set children up for school. The role of home learning has become ever more important over the last 12 months, but the capacity to engage in such activities understandably varies among families. If you are finding yourself 

 childcare and working from home, you are most certainly not alone. It is challenging to juggle childcare whist simultaneously fulfilling the commitments of your job. Some families are benefitting from using childcare outside of the home, whether for half or full days or in a flexible creche. More2 Parents have spoken for themselves around the positive impact their child attending nursery has had for the whole family during this time.

Funded childcare available for EVERY 3- and 4-year-old, regardless of income

all 3- and 4-years olds are entitled to 15 hours of funded

 early years setting, which equates to 570 free hours per year. The funding is available from the school term after your child turns 3 and stops when your child enters Reception class in school. Your early years setting can guide you through the simple process of how to access the funding. You may also be entitled to claim for 

 each week, dependent upon your working hours, income, and circumstances.

Early Years settings remain low-risk environments for young children and all settings are required to follow strict Covid-19 Government guidelines to keep children, parents and carers, and nursery staff safe and secure. This has required revisions to nursery operational procedures and our team is providing an exemplary practice in this area of which we are immensely proud.

Playing outside has multiple benefits to children: it encourages an active lifestyle; gives an appreciation of nature and the environment; develops social skills; fosters independence; and helps understand risk and make calculated decisions.

We recognise not all children are fortunate enough to have regular access to outside space at home and that is why we are pleased both our Greenwich nursery sites can offer this. Children enrolled with us have opportunities to benefit from a myriad of outside play activities such as gardening, forest school, role play, and sport.

Outside space in Greenwich nurseries is a rarity so we are incredibly proud of both our sites; our Ofsted Outstanding 

 based at the rear of the Forum benefits from two large outdoor playgrounds, whilst our 

Choose a trusted nursery that is right for your family

It is important you choose a nursery that is right for your family. A trusted and registered Early Years setting will be inspected by Ofsted and whilst its 

 can provide you with much information, where possible, do also speak with and see your 

 Early Years settings for yourself. Even with the current restrictions, many settings have adapted to providing 

 which you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, with the opportunity to speak directly with nursery staff and ask any questions you may have.

Even if further down the line, there are changes to your current situation or even to your current decision, by registering your child with a nursery now, you are giving yourself and your child, a flexible option for the next and vital step in their early years education.

If you would like to hear more about either of our Greenwich nurseries, please 

Why registering your child at nursery - even during covid times - needs to be at the top of your to do list

So, what kind of things do More2 do to help the community? We thought you would be interested in hearing one of the things we have been up to during the summer to help the more vulnerable in our community.

Firstly, to set the scene, five years ago More2 joined Neighbourly, an award-winning B corporation, which is a company that meets rigorous standards of social responsibility and environmental performances. Neighbourly partner with many major supermarkets to redistribute overstocked shelves and produce that is approaching sell by dates. Neighbourly have a text system that alerts the Directors of More2 when food is ready for collection. Marks & Spencer were our chosen supermarket chain and over the years we have built a very strong relationship with them.

Greenwich – a diverse and multicultural London Borough


As a local myself, I have seen Greenwich change vastly over the years. I have grown up in Greenwich and have chosen to bring my four children up in this diverse and multicultural society. When my children were young and I started meeting other mums and dads, I quickly realised that many of my new friends were not from Greenwich and many were not from the UK. In fact, 23.5% of our population are from outside of Europe and 7.3% are from Europe, leaving only 69% of our population of Greenwich born in the UK, 17% under the national average. The Royal Borough of Greenwich has a significant immigrant population that may need more support from its community, especially in times of a pandemic.

Whilst our nursery is situated amongst the new development of our Royal borough, it does not change the true fact that Greenwich is an economically deprived area. Home ownership is significantly lower and rented accommodations levels are higher than the national average. The rate of unemployment is higher than average with more families on benefits, there are more people struggling for basic food supplies than many other London boroughs.


These figures fuelled my ambitions to help those that are more vulnerable than myself, this is one of the reasons why I volunteer to distribute food to our community.

Over the winter months, Marks & Spencer baked trays of bread for More2, this bread was then distributed by us to the night shelter at The Forum as well as distributed at times to staff at the nursery.

M&S also joined with us and collected for our local charity MumsAid to gift presents to 12 young mums in our community and make them smile at Christmas.

Then in March, when lockdown was announced, Marks & Spencer collection was increased from once a week to 5 times a week. It became increasing difficult for me to find places to distribute the food and goods to the vulnerable and very time consuming. However, I continued through the whole lockdown and searched for a partner. It wasn’t long before I found Kevin McBrien from Clockhouse Community Centre in Woolwich Docklands.


On 23rd March when the country went into lockdown Kevin McBrien quickly put a plan together to help the many vulnerable families and individuals who use his community centre. Whilst he had to close the building to the public, halting their entire rental income, he still had an operational kitchen, a great resource to help provide food for local vulnerable and isolated. Kevin was able to secure some funding and then formed a partnership with Greenwich Council Development Agency (GCDA) to create a pop-up kitchen and provide meals for 135-150 families a week throughout the whole of lockdown. Kevin set to work to find volunteer drivers to reach out as far as Abbey Wood and Thamesmead to deliver food as well as providing a weekly delivery to the Queen Elizabeth hospital.

Very soon More2 and other community groups such as The Bridge in East Greenwich were sharing the food collection from several supermarkets including M&S, Aldi, Lidl and Asda. Deliveries were coming in thick and fast, Kevin’s team were using some of the food to create dishes and then made up food parcels with the rest of the produce. Whilst the streets were quiet and the community were almost entirely remaining in their houses Kevin’s team were busy cooking, driving and delivering to those families that needed it most in our community.


I met with Kevin last week to find out a little more about how his journey all started. In March 2018 Kevin joined the Clockhouse Community Centre as Manager and his aim was to improve the centre by ensuring it catered to a hugely diverse local community by providing a vast range of services and activities. Before Covid-19 the centre attracted a vibrant community, a number of charities and businesses used it and offered services to local people. In partnership with Greenwich Council Development Agency Kevin changed the kitchen to a shared resource where he had chefs and cooks from GCDA in addition to his café manager Justin. Between them they were producing 600-700 freshly cooked meals per week which they then delivered locally as well as having a constant stream of people calling into the Centre for food parcels.During lockdown and after the restrictions were eased, this delivery service continued until very recently when he has begun to gradually phase it out.


Kevin is now planning to gradually reopen the Community Centre, making tentative arrangements for a return of some furloughed staff and a return to those groups seeking to hire rooms again. He hopes to see the Clockhouse become busy again, but he is realistic in thinking and expecting that it may take some time to get back to the level of customers he had before March. Whilst the key objective is to have the building return to its former self, 7 days a week from 9am till 9pm (91 hours a week). It is unrealistic thinking that it will happen this year. The Centre hopes to see the return of a few groups in the immediate period ahead but it is difficult to predict just how soon things may recover. A couple of Clockhouse tenants have returned such as the Her Centre, a Women’s specialist support businesses, but some other are currently choosing not to return immediately. It seems as if this period of uncertainty will continue which unfortunately will have a detrimental effect on Kevin’s income.

Kevin is happy to become a food collection portal with a decrease in the delivering aspect being unavoidable. He does need the support of volunteers like myself that are happy to continue their support by collecting food and his team on board to continue the promotion of his facilities. With so many vulnerable people on the Clockhouse estate he has offered to continue as a food bank and supply on a collection only basis.

It was interesting talking to Kevin this week from his café in the Clockhouse, he has seen the demand for a food delivery service change, the NHS have no need for his support any longer and many of the families he supported are now able to go to shops and get back to work. Kevin told me “

We were there to supplement the food people were already receiving rather than being their sole source of food. We received overwhelming positives from people particularly as we knocked doors and connected visibly with them. This level of support was very much appreciated”.

Kevin plans to get the Clockhouse café back open 3 days a week, he will have limited tables and seats inside, but he plans to concentrate on offering take away meals, sandwiches, hot and cold drinks etc. The Food Collection Portal will run alongside the café and will offer an emergency food programme. The expected plan is that this will operate two afternoons a week and will be a collection rather than a delivery service.


Volunteers are always welcome at the Clockhouse Centre, they could always do with a bit more support.

If you have any marketing or admin skills or you have a car and are able to pick up food deliveries from local supermarkets and bring them to the centre, please get in touch with Kevin to see if you can help. It would be wonderful to support this amazing charity that has already done so much for our vulnerable community.

Feeding our local community

As a Community Interest Company (CIC), More2Childcare works closely with the local community. One of our chosen projects in 2019 was to fully fund a career coaching programme for parents across More2Nurseries. Below you can read some of the fantastic feedback about how the programme helped them.

When I put my name forward to be considered for the coaching I was hoping the sessions would be a forum for good conversation, honesty, new connections and for me personally a chance to gain some clarity on some directional questions I had been thinking about regarding my career and life choices. I was keen to have a few next steps worked out.

I felt that the course of sessions helped me achieve all of this and more. The reflection questions early on allowed me to properly think about ‘possible selves’ and make conscious choices about what I wanted to pursue (and not) and what I could do alongside a job, to still satisfy different interests e.g. through volunteering.

More2Nurseries Blog