About Us
Our Mission ..
..is to be a happy, caring, fun and visionary hub for families, staff, customers and children to come to and enjoy.
We want to be a positive example of what quality care and learning for children and practitioners can be in a sustainable and community based setting.
We want to provide a venue that unleashes imagination and unshackles curiosity and creativity for our cared for children and visitors alike.
We want to help our next generation to develop and grow and discover in the most innovative, inspiring and natural environment we can provide.
aboutus
We are a non-profit making charitable business, set up in 2004 to address the lack of childcare in our community.
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In April 2005, we opened up in our local village hall, providing high quality care for young children.
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We soon realised the need to expand into larger more permanent premises. 15 years later our efforts through fundraising both locally and with funding partners have culminated in our dream, The Fyne Den.
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We moved our childcare provision
Little Learners into our brand new purpose built facility, conveniently located at the head of Loch Fyne, just off the A83, in January 2020.
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With the addition of our Family Hub offering hire-able space to business and family services and our unique wood and sand indoor Adventure Zone open 7 days a week,
we are looking forward to being a sustainable and innovative service and an amazing, fun attraction for the families in our communities and visitors alike, all happening at The Fyne Den.
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Our Story
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Soon after the turn of the millennium a group of local parents working in the area started on a project to create a childcare facility so that young children could stay within their local communities and not have to travel over 30 miles each day.
Supported by local business, Loch Fyne Oysters and the local community, the project progressed and in April 2005 Cairndow Community Childcare opened up in the Village Hall as a pilot project to assess demand and the practicalities of running the facility.
This was always meant to be a temporary arrangement and once established and looking after children from a 20-mile radius, plans began to move into a purpose-built facility.
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Over the next fifteen years this involved feasibility studies, business plans, grant applications, legal arrangements, land purchase, supply contracts, project management, etc. etc. resulting in our new building at the head of Loch Fyne, completed just in time for the children to move in to start 2020 in their new home.
This work was largely done by a volunteer committee alongside the staff team and the professionals in all fields employed for their expertise. MAST Architects and Community Links worked alongside the group for at least 10 years.
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The aim of the group has always been to provide affordable childcare and early education for the full range of the local community.
To achieve this, additional income will always be required and the current building has been designed to increase the groups earned income through the Adventure Zone and other facilities that can be hired for all sorts of activities.
The support of Argyll and Bute Council and the National Community Lottery beyond the completion of the physical building has been crucial and funding will always be an issue, but the group has a proven track record of making ends meet one way or another!
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“Being involved with Cairndow Community Childcare on its journey over the last 15 years has been both inspirational and exasperating in probably equal measures!
Having a strong team has proved crucial to its endurance and will be what makes it succeed going forward.
Seeing the children who first came to us in 2005 now becoming confident young adults, rooted in their communities, even though they may have moved further afield, is the best reward.”
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Director
Cairndow Community Childcare
The Fyne Den
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