HIGH house prices, more working mums and fewer families have been blamed for threatening a children’s pre-school with closure.

Parents are campaigning to save Jan Weller Pre-School, in Stanton St John, near Oxford.

Dwindling numbers have led to financial trouble, prompting parents to make a call for help. They are also looking at extending the group’s hours, to attract more working parents to use it.

The playgroup, which is run by volunteers on weekday mornings, currently has eight children aged between two and four.

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Clare Massey, from Forest Hill, sends her son, Guy, four, and daughter, Gabby, two, to the preschool.

She said: “I think a big problem is that there are more working mums and they just cannot do the hours.

“There are also fewer younger families in the village because the price of housing is high.

“This means you need two working parents to afford it, and because they can’t do the preschool hours, it causes a problem.”

The 36-year-old added: “The committee would definitely look to change the hours to 9am to 3pm in order to attract more children.

“Last year we had 24 children so I don’t really know what has caused the fall in numbers. Lots of people said there was a fall in the birth rate in the area.”

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Jan Weller Pre-School.

Pre-school supervisor Hazel Christian said staff and parents wanted to raise awareness of the playgroup’s existence and increase child numbers.

The mother-of-two added: “We are run by a committee of parents.

We are a charity and rely on fundraising and donations to keep us going.

“I have been here for 17 years and at times we have had 24 children and used to have to turn people away because we were full.

“I think one of the main reasons our numbers have fallen is because of primary schools area taking children earlier.

“Lots of parents work full-time and we are a morning playgroup, then they send their children to playgroups that offer all-day care.”

The pre-school, which costs £3.90 an hour, was founded in 1976 by Jan Weller, then a mother of young children, to meet the demand for child care in the village.

An Ofsted report in January graded the playgroup as “good”.

However, without more children attending, the income is not enough to keep operating.

Kerstin Bowsher, 42, from Beckley, who sends her four-year-old son Alasdair to the pre-school, said it would be a “tragedy” if it were to shut.

The full-time mum added: “The parents feel it is still a brilliant place and it would be a real shame if it had to close down.”

Nearby Oakley Pre-school said they had 42 children that attending two sessions that last three hours.

Chairman Dan Gallagher said each session costs £13.

He said some children go to Oakley after the morning session at Jan Weller.