Kettering nursery staff raise £1,700 with charity boot camp

Practitioners from Windermere Day Nursery in Kettering, with the help of personal trainer Dean G Fitness, organised a gruelling charity boot camp to promote better mental health and wellbeing through exercise.

In doing so staff at the Haweswater Road nursery, rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted, sold more than 100 tickets to the event at Beaucourt House in Weekley and raised a total of £1,720.11.

Nursery manager Amy McCulloch said: “Several of our staff members train with Dean on a regular basis, and have expressed both the physical and mental benefits they have felt since starting. We therefore thought this event would be the perfect opportunity to show that a healthy body can equal a healthy mind.

"We are absolutely delighted to be donating this money to Mind, who are our charity partner for the year.”

Mind, who currently reach out to about 14m people a year in the UK experiencing a mental health problem, recommend physical activity to manage stress and anxiety as well as improve self-esteem and sleep.

Along with the 42 other nurseries run by Childbase Partnership, Windermere has adopted Mind for a year-long fundraising drive.

As of September, a total of £105,000 had been raised collectively by the nurseries for the cause.

Childbase Partnership head of charity, Lucy Thompson said; “We are extremely proud of the team at Windermere for executing such a successful event.

"This is a wonderful achievement and the money raised will go towards funding crucial services such as Mind’s telephone support line.”