Mears to the rescue after flood at Kilsyth nursery

Kidstore Daycare, which has been in the town for 10 years, has operated as a key worker hub during Covid-19 and recently over-hauled the physical space and practices to allow for all children to return.

However, just two days into their operation, the nursery was hit by devastating floods forcing them to evacuate the children and close its doors.

When Mears was approached to help, the company got to work getting the nursery back to its feet.

With support from Buildbase, Millbank Decorators and Greenerleaf Environmental Services, they carried out extensive refurbishment works to repair the damage to the property.

Patsy McLaren, of the nursery, said: “We had made extensive preparation for the return of our children after the lockdown and we aimed to return their wee lives to as much normality as possible.

“But on the day after re-opening, we were hit by a devastating flash flood and the building was completely wrecked.

“Mears was quick to come to the rescue, when we sent out an SOS for dehumidifiers Voids superviser Chris Kelly appeared and before we knew it he put a restoration process in place which meant in only five short weeks our children returned.”

Mears worked tirelessly to dry and strip out the building, before plastering, painting, screeding the floor and doing the skirting,

They also plumbed and fitted four new kitchens and state of the art toilets, with sinks and infra-red taps.

Patsy added: “In short, they were just amazing, and the children of Kilsyth and their parents have

so much to be grateful for.

“If we had to wait for the insurance company to help, we would

have been closed for many months

“Chris Kelly could knock spots off Nick Knowles on the telly’s DIY SOS and we are beyond grateful for all his help and kindness.”

Kilsyth councillor Jean Jones said: “I was delighted to visit the nursery during the work being carried out by Mears and the staff were working to their usual high standard.

“It is fantastic to see what can be done when business and community pull together as we now have a fantastic nursery back available for the children in this community.”

Mears managing director Barry Duncan said: “Giving back to our communities is in our DNA. During this pandemic, Mears has gone the extra mile to support our customers and communities and we are all so proud of our teams for making a positive difference.

“The flooding of the nursery and the impact that had on local families within North Lanarkshire resonates with Mears as we work in the community and many of our colleagues also require similar childcare. 

“We were therefore happy to support the reopening of the nursery with the help of our supply chain partners and sub-contractors.”