Balloons herald 15-year anniversary celebrations at the Babraham Nursery

3rd September 2005

On Saturday 3rd September the Babraham Nursery celebrated its 15-year anniversary with a birthday barbeque and concert from the children. Dr Richard Dyer, Director of the Babraham Institute, recognised the need to help new parents stay working at the Institute by providing top quality day care for their children: since the doors of the nursery opened in 1990, with three children, it has flourished and now cares for 85 children. The celebrations commenced at 11.15 a.m. with the planting of a tree by Richard Dyer on a site that the nursery hope to develop as an educational garden. Following performances of transport-inspired songs by the children, helium balloons were released to celebrate the occasion.

An imaginative programme of events was planned throughout the day, including: face painting, a magic show, a bouncy castle and super slide along with several games and competitions. Willing parents also found themselves lured into the stocks.

Dr Richard Dyer, said, “I am delighted that that Nursery has been such a success. The Nursery staff work very hard to provide a safe, stimulating and healthy environment for the children in their care. The Nursery is now a key factor in the Institute's ability to recruit and retain the best scientists”.

The Nursery has received a number of awards in recent years, reflecting its great success and recognising the exemplary standards in care and education the Nursery maintains. In 2003, the Nursery received a National Day Nursery Association (NDNA) Quality Counts Accreditation Award – being only the 84th Nursery in the UK to receive this recognition.

Contact details:

Dr Claire Cockcroft
Head, External Relations
Contact by email

Tel: +44 (0)1223 496260
Fax: +44 (0)1223 496002
Mobile: +44 (0)7786 335978

Dr Monica Winstanley
Head, BBSRC External Relations
Contact by email
Tel: 01793 413204

Matt Goode
BBSRC Media Officer
Contact by email
Tel: 01793 413299

Notes for Editors

The Babraham Nursery www.thenursery.babraham.org.uk

The Babraham Nursery was established in September 1990, through the vision and enthusiasm of Dr Richard Dyer, Director of the Babraham Institute, primarily to provide excellent childcare facilities on–site for the use of Babraham Institute staff. Since its doors opened in 1990 with 3 children, the nursery has flourished and now has 85 children, aged from 6 weeks to 5 years, on its register. Over 150 children of Play scheme age (4 – 14 year olds) are also on the register during the school holidays.

Situated in two converted houses within the Babraham Institute’s picturesque parkland estate, The Nursery has a homely atmosphere and is surrounded by delightful, spacious gardens, green fields and woods, providing a safe, attractive and stimulating environment for the formative pre-school years. It has a large enclosed garden with a patio area, sandpit, climbing frames and swings and a real sense of being close to nature. With health and nutrition high on the agenda, the Nursery is committed to providing a varied, balanced and nutritional diet and all food is prepared on the premises by catering professionals.

The Babraham Institute

The Babraham Institute is a charitable organisation devoted to biomedical research which receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The Institute’s research is focused on understanding the biological events that underlie the normal functions of cells and on how their failure or abnormality may lead to disease. As such, Institute scientists are striving to find cures for conditions where there is currently no treatment or where the existing treatment is not fully effective or causes serious side effects. The latest technologies are being used to study the basis of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, foetal abnormality and cancer. The commercialisation of the Institute’s research is managed by its trading subsidiary, Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd. Babraham Research Campus is located six miles south-east of Cambridge.