A Kingsteignton pre-school group is to hold an emergency meeting tonight in a bid to secure its future. Rydon Early Learners has provided valuable nursery activities for thousands of youngsters for the past 16 years. But a meeting of the village parish council heard that financial problems had left the charity 'in a very difficult position'. Cllr Jill Morris said a grant application for £1,500 had originally been looked on favourably by the council, but since then 'the situation has worsened' and the payment was no longer appropriate. She said the auditing of the group's accounts was 'sadly amiss' and that any debts incurred would be the personal responsibility of the volunteers who were needed to make up the committee. 'How they can be expected to form a new committee I just can't see, unless there are some very rich mums in the area,' she commented. Cllr Morris said the three play leaders were on 'absolutely top whack pay, a little over even' and she was at a loss to know how the situation had been allowed to develop. Play group founder and now line manager, Joan Humphries, told the Advertiser that she and her fellow play leaders were keen to continue and had agreed to forgo their half pay retainer, paid during school holidays, in a bid to save money. Their salaries were not negotiable, however. she said: 'We are well paid, but we've had no rise since 2001 or 2002, and those weren't awarded by ourselves but by previous committees.' She said the play leaders would also consider severance pay so that new staff could be employed on lower salaries and that she would return to help without pay for the following term. 'I've been told that with staff on lower salaries the group could make a profit of £300 per week,' she said. Mrs Humphries said that too few children in some of the group's sessions had contributed to the cash shortage, as had the increased cost of the government's healthy eating campaign and rent rises. 'The only way forward is to for us to get some grants,' she said. One parent, Philipa Mitchell, said she was concerned what would happen to her four-year-old daughter. 'The staff are fantastic and Charlotte is both learning and making friends,' she said. 'I don't know what I'd do if the group closed. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.'
