A COMMUNITY fundraising drive is under way as the final hurdle in a project that will secure a bright future for Dartmouth children.

For many years the nursery and pre-school at the Southford Road Schoolrooms have been a valued meeting place and early learning centre for children.

Now a major refurbishment project is planned to improve facilities and at the same time secure the heritage of the church-owned premises.

An open day is being held on Saturday at the schoolrooms to give everyone the chance to see what is hoped to be an exciting new chapter in the life of the historically important building.

It is also an opportunity to encourage individuals and groups to support a fundraising appeal, which still needs to raise between £40,000 and £60,000 to enable the £500,000-plus project to go ahead.

Plans have been approved for major renovation of the schoolrooms which will re-house the pre-school on the lower ground floor and give safe and easy access to the outside play garden.

Meanwhile, the ground floor and roof space is to be converted into two small apartments, one for an assistant priest to help with parish work and the other an affordable rented apartment for a key worker in the town, perhaps eventually a parish youth worker.

The rent from the second flat will be used to fund the ongoing maintenance of the building.

Southford Road Schoolrooms are over 100 years old and have been used a Sunday school, a Post Office sorting office, a school for evacuated children, a costume store room and rehearsal area for the Dartmouth Players theatre group.

For more than 50 years it has been an independent nursery and pre-school and is now an Ofsted registered charity pre-school for children aged two to five years. At present it has about 20 children, who mostly feed into local primary schools, and it also runs a holiday club.

It is believed that Dartmouth Pre-school is one of the oldest schools for early learning in the country and is the only early learning facility in the lower town of Dartmouth.

Priest in charge of Dartmouth Fr Will Hazlewood said that throughout his history the church had supported the pre-school which it helped to start by charging it a subsidised rent.

'Unfortunately the building is now in very poor condition and needs urgent renovation,' he said.

'St Saviour's can no longer afford to subsidise the building and originally felt that there was no option but to sell it, which in all probability would have seen it converted into several residential properties.

'Our major concern with this was making the pre-school homeless. Over the past five to six years, myself, along with St Saviour's churchwardens and the parochial church council, have been looking at alternatives which would honour the church's commitment to be involved with, and look after, all aspects of the local community which as Christians we seek to serve.'

Recently, through a substantial legacy left to the church by the late Duncan Gerrard, it found sufficient funds to cover the conversion costs for the two maisonettes.

Fr Hazlewood said: 'Subseq­uent­­ly, St Saviour's and the pre-school have been working together to secure funds to cover the cost of the pre-school conversion.

'So far, due to a generous private legacy and substantial support from Dartmouth United Charities, the Hadley Trust, and St Petrox Lands Trust, we have secured over £100,000 of the £160,000 needed.

'Once completed, the pre-school will be given a secure long-term lease and the building managed by a trust made up of its users.

'The six-month building project is due to start in July 2015, with the pre-school temporarily relocating to the Ivy Lane Youth Centre.'

The pre-school, with the full support of the church, is seeking to raise the shortfall by acquiring other grants and fundraising.

Fr Hazlewood added: 'We are so close to achieving a really good resource that not only secures the long-term continued flourishing of the pre-school, but also makes sure that the building continues to benefit the community it was built to serve.

'The pre-school has helped ensure a healthy start for generations of local children and we need the community to help us in ensuring its long term future for generations to come by helping us raise the shortfall.'

Amanda Liscombe, chairman of the Dartmouth Pre-school, said it was not a private nursery run to make a profit, but a charitable community resource run by paid and qualified staff but under the governance of an unpaid volunteer committee.

'The importance of early years education is now widely recognised and Dartmouth Pre-school's charges are pitched at a level that is affordable for the local working community,' she said.

'The continued popularity of the pre-school against a background of uncertainty lasting over a period of years is extremely encouraging and must be attributed to both the convenience of the facility and the quality of the services provided.

'We feel this new, purpose-built facility can only enhance the attractiveness of Dartmouth Pre-school in the eyes of prospective parents and this will help to make living in Dartmouth enduringly attractive to young families in the future.'

The school committee is organising a jumble sale at the school on May 9 from 10am to 2pm, and there will be a fundraising fete at the tea hut in Royal Avenue Gardens on June 2 and a barn dance in July.

Saturday's open day, between 10am and 2pm, will give anyone interested the chance to see the plans and building.