Please help us SAVE our nursery!

In November 1982, “Mafalda” a Latin American charity nursery, was set up with the aim to provide children from low-income households a chance to learn and have a safe space to attend every day, as well as start early education in Spanish.

For over 30 years the nursery run on donations, funding, and minimal fees.

In 2010, "Mafalda" had to be closed as it was no longer able to run as a charity. This was heart-breaking for everyone as Mafalda was like a second home to everyone and impacted many families lives as it not only was a nursery but a place where families could find help and support.

Ana Marin, now Director of “Tia Ana’s ” and daughter of Mafalda's founder decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps and opened up "Tia Ana's" Nursery in the hope of continuing the legacy and opportunity of bilingual education for future generations.

The nursery is very grateful to have created a stepping stone for children to thrive for 2, 3 generations.

Where all children have received a safe and loving space for them to explore and develop their skills, respecting and valuing themselves and others. And they have moved on to higher education as bilingual speakers.

But, unfortunately, like many other businesses, our loving nursery has been impacted by COVID and desperately needs your help, from as little as £1 your help could save us!

Our financial story PRE-COVID

Our register had 40+ children and our nursery was full of happiness, stability and security.

Things were so positive that in 2019 we took out a loan to improve our facilities and began making impactful changes;

new flooring was laid down, bathrooms were changed, new entrance door & double-glazed windows were installed and the remaining of the loan was going to be used to fix the roof of the nursery as every time it rained the nursery was flooded (we still continue to have leaks and continue to manage by with temporary solutions)... BUT then the worldwide pandemic happened!

During the pandemic, the nursery had to be closed for 4 months in 2020 but of course, had to keep the on running without any income and only outgoings.

Luckily for us, we had the remainder of the loan and did not have many other choices but to use this to cover our running costs. As we knocked on every door possible, applying for grants and asking for help but unfortunately our requests were unsuccessful.

Our only other option was to apply for a second loan to help us continue surviving through this pandemic, only 20% of our children returned to the nursery when the restrictions were lifted due to some parents not being able to financially afford it or fear of the current situation.

This situation is not a failure of bad administration but a result of this horrendous pandemic. For months we have not been able to pay full wages to staff, even resulting in management not having pay on numerous occasions.

Our staff have been very supportive and are witnesses to our current struggle and have kindly given the nursery voluntary hours.

We thought hard and long on a route to take because we have tried fundraising and doing activities to help our situation. We have also searched for grants that may be able to help us but again we have not been found suitable.

In summary

Our BIGGEST worry yet is getting through the month of December, where the nursery will only operate for 2 weeks but still have to upfront the monthly outgoings which round up to £30k.

These include; wages, bills, loan payments, food, insurance, tax... and the list goes on.

This would be the first time we ask for help but we kindly ask for you to consider our situation and support our nursery. From as little as £1 could go a long way to help us, if not even sharing this with your contacts will be so appreciated.

This is a nursery that has been in the community for many years, trying to help in any way possible to not only the kids but also the parents in their time of need. With as simple as a hot meal after a long working day throughout the year, to help kids find familiarity and a safe space following their arrival to the UK from Latin American countries. We understand that everyone is in a similar situation and are struggling themselves but we are trying to make sure that we continue to provide for not only the kids we have registered now but also the new generation to come in future.

We would like people to also know that this is not only exclusively for the Latin community but for the multi-cultural community of London in itself.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! You can help us as well by kindly SHARING our story.