Lanark Road Nursery: Owners manage to secure temporary facilities at Clovenstone Primary following devastating fire

A popular Edinburgh nursery which was devastated by a fire last week moved into temporary facilities at a local primary school on Thursday.

Clovenstone Primary School on Clovenstone Park, Edinburgh will host Lanark Road nursery on a temporary basis (Photo: Google Maps).

Owners at Lanark Road Nursery have managed to secure temporary facilities at Clovenstone Primary School following a fire last week.

Emergency services were called to the Lanark Road Nursery at around 7.20am on Wednesday, May 5 after a fire in the roof space spread across the building.

The damage done to the nursery was ‘extensive’ and owners are still uncertain on whether or not they will be able to use the building after ‘losing everything’.

However, Gary Anderson - who runs the family-run nursery alongside his sister Sharon Anderson - said he could not believe they were able to secure a facility within a week of the fire happening.

He said: “It means everything. I would never imagine we would move into something a week later after seeing what happened.

"Everybody has rallied together so quickly – the response has been immense and overwhelming for us as a family.

"The support from the parents, from our team, the council, the school and from the community – everybody has pulled together and I can’t thank them enough.

"I can’t thank Clovenstone enough for making this space for us.

"To get a phone call the day after the fire happened that we could use this premises – it was so uplifting.

"We are so happy to have our family back.”

The 26-year-old nursery, which has cared for up to 70 children at a time, began a phased return at the school on Thursday.

Those in the pre-school – aged three to five – are the first to return to the site which is minutes away from the original premises.

A date for those aged two and under has not yet been finalised.

However, Mr Anderson did say he was hoping he was “counting it in days rather than weeks.”

The nursery staff of 24 people will return to the new site which is located at the far end of the school.

"We have three rooms of our own and we have our own entrance and exit.” said Gary, “We’ll also have our own outdoor play area and have access to our own kitchen.”

The new nursery site will be open five days a week, Monday to Friday, and has ‘trial’ opening hours of 8am to 5.45pm.

Mr Anderson said that the nursery is “absolutely determined” to be back up and running at their original premises.

Cllr Ian Perry, convener for education, children and families at Edinburgh City Council said: “It’s great news that we’ve been able to find alternative accommodation for the children and staff from Lanark Road Nursery.”

Jennifer Cairns, Head Teacher at Clovenstone Primary School, said: “We are delighted to welcome the children and staff from Lanark Road Nursery to share our building!

"We have worked hard to make a warm, welcoming environment for both staff and children and have already built great relationships as we begin to work together."

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