TWO friends are opening a new nursery which could create up to 25 jobs.
And Yvonne Raper and Cheryl Parton are hoping Friends Together in Hartshill can help fill the gap left by the forthcoming closure of Buttercups Nursery at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
They have already taken on two members of staff affected by the closure.
The Shelton New Road day nursery will also host a before and after-school club, which Yvonne and Cheryl say could prove useful for parents affected by proposed changes to the school day at nearby Harpfield Primary.
The Sentinel reported last month that parents at Harpfield were being consulted on proposals to change its hours from 9.10am to 3.30pm to 8.40am to 2.45pm.
Friends Together, which opens on January 4, will be able to look after children from birth to aged 11 from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and from 8am to 4pm on Saturdays.
Yvonne and Cheryl are both registered nurses and have years of experience between them working in nurseries and schools.
Yvonne, aged 54, of Butterton, said: "It's been a life-long dream to open our own nursery – I've thought about it many times but we've never had the right opportunity.
"I retired to look after my dad a couple of years ago and Cheryl had left her previous nursery because of family commitments.
"Our circumstances have changed now so we thought, 'let's go for it'.
"We decided to call it Friends Together because Cheryl and I have been friends for many years, and we are hoping all the children will become great friends too."
Yvonne added: "We're registered to take 68 children so the number of staff will depend on that, but if we are full we would be looking for something like 25 people.
"We've already had a couple of inquiries from parents at one of the local schools which is looking to change its hours, and we've taken on about six children who were previously at Buttercups."
The Sentinel reported in October that officials at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire had decided to close Buttercups because they could no longer afford its �225,000 annual subsidy.
They said there would be no room to move the nursery from its location at the Royal Infirmary into the �400 million super-hospital due to open on the City General site in 2012.
Thousands signed a petition calling for Buttercups to be kept open but the hospital confirmed it would be closed from January 4 at a meeting in November.
And officials have rejected an appeal from parents that the closure was in breach of their employment terms.
Fiona Weston, spokesman for the Buttercups campaigners, said: "We had a huge amount of public support, and from the MPs and unions as well, which we were so grateful for – it's just disappointing the result wasn't a better one.
"It's very sad. At the moment the staff are working really hard to make this week and next really special for the children.
"It's an exceptional nursery and as a parents' group, we're really upset that the alternative models we came up with that work elsewhere have been dismissed.
"We just want to wish all the staff the best in their new roles now.
"It's going to be a difficult time for the children too because it's a home from home for them and they're going to have to get used to somewhere new.
"Yes, there a lot of other childcare providers out there but it's so important to find a place that you are really comfortable with.
"The hospital hasn't given them any time off to find alternative arrangements so they're having to deal with that in their own time on top of everything else."
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