SUBSTANTIAL lottery grants are being celebrated by the Bere Valley Playgroup and Tavistock Community Pre-School.

A thriving club for children, the Bere Valley Playgroup has secured £35,700 while Tavistock Community Pre-School has received £19,000.

The Bere Valley Playgroup will use the lottery to fund after-school and holiday care and is hoping to have its own building in the future.

The playgroup currently uses the parish hall in Bere Alston but wants its own facility so it can fulfill its dream of providing all-day care.

The mother and toddler club, which will continue throughout the summer holidays, has 40 children on the books. With limited childcare in the area demand is growing for a facility where mothers can leave their children while they go out to work.

?We run a lunch club at the moment which is also very popular and the after school and holiday care will be funded over the next three years by this grant,? said playgroup leader Sue Painter.

?We are hoping to to run these new clubs at the primary school but our long-term aim is to get our own building.?

Mrs Painter said because the hall was a community facility, the playgroup had to share it with lots of other groups and clubs.

?The parish hall is not ideal and at the end of each session we have to pack all the equipment away in a garage across the road,? she said

?Sometimes we have to close early for events like the flower show and blood doning sessions.

??With only two childminders in the area, the demand for an all-day childcare facility is growing and if we can provide it, more people will have the chance of getting a job.?

The playgroup is working hard to win funding to get its plans off the ground with the aim being to construct a new building on the primary school premises sometime next year.

In the meantime, the new holiday club will begin at half term.

Children from Bere Valley Playgroup celebrated the windfall from the lottery and the end of term with a party.

?Under the Sea? was the theme and there was fun and entertainment including a fancy dress competition and a fond farewell to the 12 children who are starting school in September and to Alison Rundle, a long standing member of staff.

The £19,000 lottery grant will breathe new life into a Tavistock Pre-School which has big plans to expand its daycare facilities.

Tavistock Community Pre-School is intending to run clubs before and after school, at lunch times and during holidays.

The grant was secured under the New Opportunities Fund via the Playlines Trust which was awarded money from the National Lottery.

Chairman of the pre-school Jan Montague said: ?We are absolutely thrilled to be awarded the money.

?It is proof that Playlines has the faith in us to deliver excellent childcare facilities which are both fun and stimulating.?

Mrs Montague said that later this year the pre school would be putting itself forward for the Pre School Learning Alliance Accreditation Scheme, which was in addition to its OFSTED inspections and a standard mark for parents.

Additional staff are currently being sought for new projects, one of which will be a summer play scheme for three to six-year-olds.

A variety of activities are being organised including foot painting, making hats, jewellery and masks, plaster cast moulding and cookery.

The pre-school will be extending its provision to two-and-a-half-year- olds in September.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the pre-school activities should contact Jan on 07971967843 or Lisa Isaac on 01822 615873.