Founded in 1974, the Playgroup provides pre-school education and care for up to 26 children per session. The Playgroup has been housed in a ‘temporary’ second-hand building for the majority of its 35 year history. The dilapidated state of the current building means that, should we not obtain the necessary funding, Aston and Cote Playgroup would face imminent closure, which would be a terrible loss for the local community in Aston and the surrounding hamlets and villages.We are therefore raising funds and planning to replace the existing building with a new purpose-built building on the same land, starting on July 2010. The new building will be fully accessible to meet the needs of the group and all the children in the village and surrounding areas. It will enable us to provide wrap-around childcare and will also provide a facility for use by the wider community, to assist with sustainability costs. Phase 1 of the project will cost £199,500 this covers demolition of the old building, erection of the new building, associated legal fees and temporary accommodation costs for the playgroup. For phase 2 of the project we have budgeted £22,000 this is for redeveloping the outdoor play area and new equipment for indoors. We have raised nearly £40,000 and have been short-listed for a grant of £150,000.