Youngsters from two far north pre-school groups are starring in a video to pay tribute to the community campaign which helped save their units from the chop.
Scallywags nursery, near Dunnet, and Bower Busy Bees playgroup looked set to be victims of Highland Council cutbacks and were earmarked to close last June.
But each won eleventh hour reprieves after a furious backlash from parents and local elected representatives.
The kids and staff from the two nurseries spent the run-up to Christmas making a video to mark their appreciation of the efforts to reinstate the council funding of their operations.
And the two-minute clip could go viral after being viewed more than 1,000 times within a couple of days of being posted.
It shows 10 of the children in the playgrounds of the nurseries and features a song called Two Little Words – Thank You.
It was written by Bower’s newly appointed senior early years practitioner Fiona Murray, who trained as an early childhood music specialist in the USA.
The film was produced by her two sons, videographer Dale and media professional Brett, who both work in the Central belt.
Scallywags is based in an annexe to Crossroads school while Bower Busy Bees operates from the village community centre. Both units cater for two-to-five-year-olds.
Scallywags manager Karen Williamson said yesterday: “We decided to make it as we were overwhelmed by the support we received from the community and firmly believe that it the reason why the original decision to close Scallywags and Bower was overturned.
“It just goes to show that even in small communities like ours, if everybody pulls together, they can make a difference.”
