Closure of nursery loved by generations would leave families with 'nowhere to go'

A much-loved nursery school is under threat of closure after the building it has been based in for 35 years was put up for sale. West Derby Pre-School is housed in Bonsall Hall, a building owned by the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Last month, the hall was put on the market by the Archdiocese, leaving an uncertain future for the nursery, which rents the building from the Church. The owners of the school, Nicola Durkin and Carmel Murphy, bought the business 16 years ago, but have worked there for over 25 years.

They employ 18 members of staff who take care of children aged between two and four, as well as providing breakfast club services and after-school care for school-aged children. Around 170 children use their services, and the building is also used for meetings of Scouts, Brownies and Beavers. In total, Nicola estimates around 300 families make use of Bonsall Hall every week.

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Nicola and Carmel say the closure of the nursery would have a "devastating" impact on the local community in West Derby. Speaking to the ECHO, Nicola said: "I'm distraught about it. We're one big family here. Hundreds of families in the area are reliant on us for our services. There's nowhere else for them to go."

In 2021, the women were made aware by the parish priest that the Archdiocese of Liverpool wished to sell the building because the Church could not afford to carry out repairs. According to Nicola, the cost of repairs - which she says are non-structural - amounted to around £48,000.

A verbal compromise was reportedly reached whereby the women would take on the lease of the building and pay for the repairs themselves. A third party drew up a contract which Nicola and Carmel received and signed. However, Nicola claims that when it was sent to the Archdiocese for agreement, there was no response.

Nicola said: "I tried to contact them to ask what was going on with the lease, but we heard nothing back from them." Assuming that the sale was off, the women continued their lives as normal for the next three years. "We just assumed everything was fine," explained Nicola. " We continued paying rent and got on with things."

Then in April this year, they were told by the parish priest that the sale was going ahead. Nicola claims they have received no official correspondence on the matter from the Archdiocese.

Nicola said: "The priest told us in person that the sale was happening and we were offered different options again about us paying for work and taking on the lease. He told us we would have first choice of buying it. So I contacted the Archdiocese about it. I called them, and I sent them emails, but we didn't hear back from them until July, and again this was only done verbally."

In July, Nicola and Carmel were told the hall would go on sale for £325,000. They contacted their bank and consulted a mortgage advisor. He told them that they would be eligible for a mortgage, but that they would need to raise £90,000 for the deposit. Because the building is used for commercial purposes, the deposit is set at a higher rate than a residential property would be.

Nicola said: "We didn't have the full £90,000, but we've got around half of it. So we sent another email to the Archdiocese and asked for six to 12 months, just an extension. But we didn't hear anything back."

"We're not asking them to give it to us for free or not to sell it - we're just asking for a little bit of time. We all have to save for deposits if we want to buy something - that's totally normal. Working class people, if they want to buy a property, they save for it. That's all we're asking for, is time and some correspondence with them."

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Liverpool, said: "Following a review of Bonsall Hall, a decision was made to sell the building with the tenant in situ. The nursery owners were informed of this by the parish priest in April 2024.

"The nursery owners are welcome to put in an offer for consideration and have been invited to do so. The decision to sell Bonsall Hall is not one the archdiocese has taken lightly, we have taken time to reach the decision after exploring all other options privately with the parish. Sadly, the building requires significant ongoing maintenance, repair and financial resources that the archdiocese is no longer able to sustain."

When the ECHO visited Bonsall Hall on Thursday afternoon, the nursery was in full swing. Lively children were immersed in a 'Disco Dough' activity, which involved making shapes out of dough while dancing to Disney tunes.

They were supervised by nursery nurse Joanne Temeldasi, who has worked here for 16 years and knows every child individually. Like many Bonsall staff members, Joanne's own kids came here too. According to Joanne, many people who once attended the nursery as children now bring their own kids here, creating a "real family atmosphere".

While the kids played on, oblivious to concerns about the nursery's closure, a group of mums told the ECHO about the impact the nursery's closure would have on them. Michelle Passey, 47, is the mum of four-year-old twin girls, one of whom has Down's Syndrome.

She said: "I was so upset when I found out the nursery might close. There's a real family feeling here and I don't know what I'd do without it. The girls would be so sad - they love coming to this nursery. The kids absolutely love the staff and they're really attached to them. All the staff know all the kids and nothing's too much trouble. From day one we were made to feel welcome.

"One of my twins has Down's Syndrome and I'm already anxious enough with her going to school and I wouldn't know what to do if this place closed. I couldn't put her in a different nursery, it'd be too disruptive for her. Our kids are leaving in July, but I still want it to be here for other families to use. I want other families to benefit from it. It's such a lovely, lovely nursery.

Lyndsey Latta, 37, has four children. Her three year old twins are at the nursery, and she also has a four-year old daughter and an 11 year old son. She claims she would have to give up work if the nursery and after-school club were to close.

Lyndsey told the ECHO: "I won't be able to go to work without this nursery. I don't have someone to collect the kids at 3pm. The days I'm in the office, Bonsall will go and collect the children from school and bring them along and then it's an after school club as well. For me, it's a massive part of our family life. It doesn't bear thinking about it closing. It would have a knock-on effect for everyone in the community."

There is a possibility that whoever buys the building will choose to allow the nursery to remain in situ. However, the uncertainty around their future is causing Nicola and Carmel great distress.

Nicola says she is concerned that if someone else buys the property, they might decide to develop it for other purposes. "It's the not knowing that bothers me," she says. "They might buy it, then flatten the place and build houses on it."

"We've looked at relocating and there's nothing suitable in the area. Even if we did relocate, we do a breakfast and after school club and there's 120 children who attend our club from St Paul's School at the bottom of our road. What do we do about them? What about the SEN children who come to us - where are they going to go?"

The parallels with nearby Zoe's Place aren't lost on the women, and they are taking heart from the heroic efforts made to save the baby hospice from closure. Reluctantly, Nicola and Carmel have started a fundraising appeal to gather money for the deposit to enable them to buy Bonsall Hall. Nicola said: "The last thing we want to do is ask people for money so we can buy the property, but because they've not given us enough time, we just can't let it go to anyone else.

"We'll do anything to save the hall. We're thinking about the 300 families that use it too, as well as the 18 staff who are losing sleep over it closing."

If you wish to donate to the Bonsall Hall appeal, you can visit the nursery's GoFundMe page here.