Mighty Oaks Nursery, Blackwood, opens outdoor classroom

Mighty Oaks Nursery in Blackwood officially opened its doors in September 2023 under the ownership of Ceri Gwilt and Kelly Vokes. 

Ceri Gwilt and Kelly Vokes opened Mighty Oaks in September 2023 (Image: Mighty Oaks)

The duo, who have previous childcare experience having worked with the local council for many years, felt that their nursery's garden wasn't living up to its full potential as a great space for the children in their care to learn and explore the great outdoors. 

Ceri and Kelly believed the garden was not living up to its full potential (Image: Mighty Oaks) As a small company within the community, they wanted to get local businesses involved in the project to revamp the garden, and so reached out to many businesses in the surrounding areas for help. 

Ceri, 40, from Newbridge, explained: "We reached out to a local company - Senior Flexonics, from Crumlin - and working with Claire Barry, their human resources manager, they kindly offered their help to develop the area into a wonderful, enriching, child friendly space.

"They have been truly amazing! They listened to our ideas to create a safe outdoor learning environment for our children and provided us with everything we needed."

The garden has now been fully revamped into an outdoor classroom (Image: Mighty Oaks) Senior Flexonics were able to donate a gazebo to ensure the children could be outside in all weathers - protected in shade and from the rain. 

As part of the "glow-up" as described by Ceri and Kelly, 35, from Aberbargoed, new planters, a sandbox, painting easel and mud kitchen were all added to the new-look 'outdoor classroom'. 

The garden now has planters and a sanbox for the children to play with (Image: Mighty Oaks) Popular local artist Paul's Walls also covered the garden's walls with a "beautiful" mural of flowers. 

The flower mural was designed by local artist Paul's Walls (Image: Mighty Oaks) The outdoor classroom was officially launched with a special event on June 6. 

Ceri says she and Kelly will be "forever grateful" to the local businesses who have helped make their dream of an outdoor classroom a reality. 

She added: "They have helped us create the perfect environment for the children to enjoy now, and over the years to come. We are forever grateful.

"The children of Blackwood are super lucky, and I’m sure they will have plenty of new amazing opportunities."