Our history
Pavilion Preschool (Aigburth) was established in 1969 by six young mothers who felt that preschool facilities were lacking in the area at that time. Originally operating out of the Cricket Club on Aigburth Road, the playgroup moved to the old Woodlands Tennis Pavilion on Dundonald Road in the mid 1970’s and this is the site we occupy today.
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The original preschool building was an old wooden World War 1 army hut and the preschool operated inside this building and surrounding tennis courts for many happy years. In the late 1980’s the land own by Liverpool Health Authority/Crofton Estate was sold for building development. After much negation the property developers gifted a section of land for community preschool use under the condition that the old building was replaced. The trustees at the time undertook a huge community project to raise the funds required to buy a reconditioned portakabin which was loved and cherished for over 40 years. This portakabin was over loved and out played by 1000’s of local families.
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In 2019 the Trustees embarked upon a massive campaign to rebuild Pavilion Preschool. With an excellent reputation, growing numbers, a demand for extended services verse an ever increasing cost base the Trustees needed a strong plan to ensure the sustainability of the charity and the future of the preschool. Starting with business plans, charity governance and community consultations – we knew we had the all successful ingredients and a passionate team who could deliver the project. With a lot of hard work, late nights, careful planning and refusing to take ‘no’ as an answer, Pavilion successfully raised the funds need to re-build the preschool building. We received grants from The National Lottery Power to Change Community Business Fund, Eleanor Rathbone Trust, LCVS, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, The Majors Investment Fund, The Morgan Foundation, Tesco Bags for Life/Ground Works, Asda Community Fund, National Lottery Business Development Fund. We also held many local events, community fairs, bakes sales. Parents ran record breaking marathons dressed as Fisherman, climbed mountains or ran a 1000km in a month. We also crowdfunded through our local south Liverpool community, as well as many local businesses in Aigburth donating generously.
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On the 27th November 2020 Pavilion Preschool opened its doors to play inside the wonderful purpose built new premises. In September 2021, our Breakfast and After School Clubs started, and we are hiring our building for local community use at weekends.
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The Pavilion we have today is born from the hard work, tenacity and dedication of every parent in the community who has given their time to help support our preschool. Today, nearly 50 years on, we have created a wonderful environment where many local children have enjoyed attending Pavilion through the years – and long may this continue!
