Burton Latimer nursery worker wins national award

Abi won for her work with Hetty, who has a rare chromosome disorder. This is Hetty on her nursery graduation day.

A team member at a Burton Latimer nursery has won a national industry award for going above and beyond in her care for a child with a rare chromosome disorder.

Abi Willis, from Acorn Day Nursery in Burton Latimer, has been Hetty's one-on-one key worker since she joined the nursery in August 2018.

Hetty's mum, Caroline Stephenson, said: "We are really close with Abi and so thankful for everything she did with Hetty, she's amazing."

Hetty's mum Caroline said choosing Acorn Day Nursery was the best decision she could have made

Hetty has a rare chromosome disorder and Caroline said: "Hetty has severe special needs, when we were looking for a nursery for Hetty it was a really big thing letting her go off to nursery.

"She needs help with everything, she cannot sit, she cannot verbally communicate, literally needs help with everything.

"Someone recommended Acorn because her daughter with special needs was already going. We couldn’t have made a better decision, they included her in everything.

"We loved that Hetty got to mingle with other children and they got to understand that not everyone is the same. They would gather round her and read her stories."

Abi Willis from Acorn Day Nursery in Burton Latimer won a national award for her care

Caroline said one of her favourite moments from Hetty's time at Acorn Day Nursery was when she got her first birthday party invitation, she said: "It was so lovely, she'd always come to parties when her brother had been invited."

Caroline said Abi's support for Hetty was amazing and said: "Abi's been amazing, she helped Hetty to start drinking from a cup.

"The managers approached us in June time to say they felt they would like to nominate Abi and wondered if we could write something to support it and we said of course."

Abi won the award, The NMT Rising Star Award, which is an industry accredited gong that recognises those who went above and beyond for their nurseries during the pandemic.

Acorn Day Nursery said Abi carried on caring for Hetty during lockdown, leaving her own primary school aged children at home. Hetty's parents are key workers and because she could go to nursery, they could carry on working.

Zoe Raven, CEO of Acorn said: "We are enormously proud of Abi, and delighted that she has won this award, which she absolutely deserves.

"We stayed open for key worker families throughout the lockdown period, and it’s really lovely that this award shines a light on a member of our dedicated and professional team of staff at Burton Latimer."

Hetty finished nursery in August and has recently started school. Caroline said: "It’s been a huge wrench for us for her to leave nursery.

"We are really close with Abi and so thankful for everything she did with Hetty. It was really emotional when Hetty left.

"We're good friends now and we will stay in touch."

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