In the words of Joni Mitchell, ‘Don’t it always seem to go / that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?’
Well, nobody’s yet talking about extending a car park over the premises, but a really useful and much loved Broughton resource could still disappear if numbers don’t pick up soon.
Long-established presence
St Mary’s Playgroup has been running in Broughton since 1982, first from a room in the old St Mary’s PS on Albany Street Lane, then for the last 27 years from a former dining hall behind the school’s new home on East London Street.
Although it’s always been geographically close to the Roman Catholic primary school, it’s a completely separate, non-denominational entity run for the past decade as a Scottish charity (SCO42948).
Gail Dempster has been there, ‘through thick and thin’, since 1998; joined for the last 18 months by Julie Moncur.
Aims and means
Gail says the playgroup offers fun, learning, and the gentle inculcation of social skills to infants from the age of 2½–5 years.
It provides a loving, safe, and satisfying context for the very young to develop through words and group play, through the traditional water tray, sand, table-top games, a house corner, and all-weather outdoor space for bikes, trampoline, and (at quiet times) playground freedom. Nowadays, it even has a computer.
Ultimately, in the words of its charitable object statement, it aims to help pre-school children (and their parents and carers) take ‘a constructive part in the community’.
Changing times
St Mary’s Playgroup runs for three hours each day, Monday to Friday, 8.45–11.45am, and costs £10 per morning session.
There used to be three staff caring for 21 children. Now with Council-run nurseries taking infants full time for free from 8.30am–3.30pm, St Mary’s Playgroup finds itself squeezed. Numbers have dropped: two staff now care for 8–10 children, as few as 6 children in January.
Under these pressures, its modest finances are creaking.
Unique provision
So what has St Mary’s Playgroup got that other forms of infant provision haven’t?
Well, for a start, infants here can begin aged 2½, rather than in the first term after their 3rd birthday as elsewhere.
And for seconds, whilst the upper age limit is 5 during term times, St Mary’s Playgroup also welcomes brothers and sisters up to the age of 7 during holidays.
Finally, though staff are now subject to statutory requirements about training, qualifications, and official inspections, an ethos of flexible spontaneity and individual attention remains which is harder to match in the public sector.
It’s a personal touch which appeals to many parents, particularly those getting used to being parted from their little ones for the first time.
Next steps
Playgroups like this – run by locals for locals – used to be common across Edinburgh. Now, they’re increasingly rare.
If it is to resume flourishing, St Mary’s Playgroup needs more pre-school children to come along, and it needs them soon.
So, quite simply, we urge readers to spread the word about this neighbourhood treasure’s special value across Bellevue and beyond, and/or arrange a visit to discover more for themselves.
To get in touch, email stmarysplaygroup@aol.com
