Ferrabyrne managing director Ken Horton and staff with children and staff in the new construction area at The Play Centre in Littlehampton
Young children have returned from half-term to find some exciting new equipment provided for their nursery. Ferrabyrne Ltd wanted to help the local Play Centre Nursery at the Wickbourne Centre to enhance the children’s role-play experiences and learning through play. Ken Horton, managing director, explained: “Ferrabyrne has been a local employer for 47 years. Each year, we run a Christmas raffle and the company puts in all the prizes. The challenge to staff is to raise at least as much money as we have put in and all the money raised is spent on a good cause.
“This year, the staff decided to help the Play Centre, as they were in need of a lot of new equipment. We wanted to make trains the focus and it has very much been about giving an impression of what work is like.
“We are a manufacturing business, making suspension systems for trains and heavy-duty vehicles, so that is the theme and why we were keen to get a train somewhere in there.
“There is also a safety message to it, with hi-vis jackets and hard hats, so it is like a real working environment.”
Katie Simmonds, a buyer for Ferrabyrne, said staff brainstormed ideas to help the nursery and agreed they would set up a production office and construction role play area with toy tool benches, safety equipment, ride-on diggers and trucks She said: “The children can have digger training and they will be able to use maths skills to estimate and predict, as well as learn about health and safety in the workplace.
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Photo courtesy of Elaine Hammond.
