Blyth nursery among local businesses and homes to suffer major flooding damage

The Croft Road nursery set up a fundraiser to help cover the costs of their hefty £10,000 insurance excess and the replacement of damaged resources, equipment and flooring after sewage contaminated floodwater forced them to close and change how they operate.

Parts of Northumberland were struck with 70mm of rainfall in just 24 hours, more than the average amount expected for the whole of October.

Blyth was one of the worst affected areas, with homes and businesses flooded with water and sewage, forcing many businesses to close and residents to look for alternative accommodation.

Kerrie's Cherubs Childcare offers child care from birth to 11 years-old but after its ground floor flooded, staff had to relocate the children and only use their second floor nursery for nought to two-year-olds, which escaped damage. They now operate childcare for their older children from Church Hall in Blyth but can only do so for 14 days.

Abbey Henderson, deputy manager, said: "All our resources were ruined. We had to literally carry the children out of the nursery for the parents. The parents couldn't even get in the street.”

The nursery celebrated 10 years of operating in April and have never experienced any flooding in that time despite being classed as a high risk flood area. Now, having got rid of the water using pumps, their next hurdle is dealing with contamination and damage.

"Pretty much everything needs replacing,” Kerrie said. “It's all contaminated, which obviously we can't use around children. Even skirting boards and our walls are going to have to be all pulled out because it's all contaminated with sewage water.

"We are early educators but we've got a lot of children that have got special educational needs. We support those families heavily and it's a respite for them. As well, especially the children that have got SEN, going to a different building is a massive transition for them and that's quite disruptive for the children to be able to regulate in different places. It can have a massive impact on their ability to learn and their mental health as well.”

The goal is to raise £45,000 and you can make donations at https://www.gofundme.com/f/local-nursery-kerries-cherubs-flood-damage?cdn-cache=0.