20 Years!
To celebrate Bluebells’ 20th birthday, staff (past and present) enjoyed a fabulous night out drinking cocktails and enjoying a meal a Mr Chows. It was a lovely evening and I was touched with the thoughtful gifts of a personalised magnum of champagne, cake and balloons. It was also a good evening to reminisce Bluebells’ incredible journey. I am as proud today and as was on the first opening. I have so many fantastic memories and have made lifelong friends.
After the death of my late husband Rob Blewett who died from cancer at 26 years of age, I was determined to open a nursery as we were unable to have children. I purchased the property in Bebington and with no experience in the childcare industry, I embarked on my journey. In September 1997, I opened the doors with 3 children, one of those being my god child. It was one of the proudest and the most terrifying moments in my life.
My main focus for the nursery then, and still is today, is to offer the most personal and outstanding childcare to the local community. I wanted to create a family feel and not a business environment for all our families. I tried to be a little different from the norm and offered as much flexibility as possible and included ‘everything but the baby!’
Within three years, our numbers grew from 3 to 30 children, as did our reputation. We expanded and opened our second nursery in Bromborough in 2004. We continued with the same focus but on a larger scale and due to being at capacity we made the decision to expand again and bought new premises next door to Bromborough in 2014.
Over the years there have been so many changes to not only my personal life but also in the whole childcare industry. I re-married to Mike and we have 2 children, Ellie and Harry. Harry in still in school and Ellie in fact has qualified with a diploma in Childcare and works at Bebington. We are truly a family business!
To ensure we am prepared for the next 20 years of changes, we have recently downsized and moved out of Bromborough Children centre and offer a 30 place nursery in our own building which has been adapted for children 0-3 years. I love it!!!! Our team is amazing and without them Bluebells wouldn’t exist. Many have been working for Bluebells for many, many years and in fact Clare will have 20 years’ service in September 2018 starting as a student to Area Manager where she is today.
What’s next?
I’m sure there will be many challenges ahead but one thing that won’t change is our commitment, expertise and outstanding service to you and your family.