The manager of a Ceredigion nursery, “a home from home” for many of the staff and children, has spoken of her pride after being named best in Wales.

Gogerddan Childcare, near Penrhyncoch, has received the award for Nursery of the Year Wales in the National Day Nurseries Association 2022 awards, held on Friday, 24 June.

Managing director of the nursery, Emma Haf Healy, has invested much of her time in the nursery, which she calls her “home from home”, having worked there since 1997.

“I just think it’s nice to have the recognition the staff work so hard and go above and beyond in their roles. We really aim to provide the best for the children in our care every day. So it’s all about recognition, to show how the staff are appreciated.

“We were all so proud to receive the award, because we had a lot of parents nominate us and send in their votes.

“For the awards, you need to be nominated by the nursery manager. So I applied, then we were voted for by parents. We didn’t get to see what the parents said, but we could see how many votes we get – we got 70.

“But then following that, we had a representative from NDNA come to visit the nursery and look around. We showed them around and they spent time talking to staff. Then everything goes forward to a judging panel. We only found out on the night of the awards, so we had no idea until Friday night. It was so exciting.

“After the past few years of not doing anything, it was a really lovely event. For a little nursery in Aberystwyth, we are really proud to be recognised. It’s a whole team effort.”

After working as manager for many years, Emma took over ownership of the nursery in 2012, when it “faced closure”.

“I’ve been part of the nursery for so long, it’s really like a second home for me and for many of the staff as well.

“The main reason I took it on was because I was so proud of the nursery. It faced closure at the time and I just felt so passionate about what we had here and what we had available, I didn’t want it to end.

“It was quite frightening. It is such a lovely place and business, so I took the leap and took it over. It’s always been a big part of the community, we have families coming from all over the place to use the service. It’s a home from home for staff as well, we have many long term staff members.”

Emma added: “I want to say thank you to all the parents who sent in all their votes and let NDNA know what the nursery meant for them. I want to thank them for all their support.

“As they announced the award, they said we had really glowing parents reports. It means so much. Especially for the staff, it means so much to hear how they’ve had an impact on so many families and children.”

The NDNA said the awards are a “chance to show your appreciation”, with the judging process taking into account the ratio of votes to number of children, the submission itself, and the quality of comments, to create a fair system for nurseries of all sizes.