Monmouth Community Under Fives (MCU5) have found themselves in a similar situation to the problems they faced two-and-a-half years ago.

At that time they had to leave premises that had been rented from Monmouthshire County Council for more than 14 years due to rent increases.

They were saved from closure then by Bridges Community Centre coming to the rescue and offering them temporary accommodation while a project to establish a new nursery at Singleton Court Business Park was undertaken.

This project gave problems over flood risk assessments and had to be abandoned. A second project to create a Children's Centre at Bridges giving the group a permanent home and secure future also became impossible to accomplish.

Their situation has now gone full circle. The nominal rent the group pays at present has had to be reviewed and to meet any rise the fees paid by parents for their childcare would have to be increased.

As a community group, every effort is made to keep fees at an affordable level allowing all the community access to high quality child care.

The group is staffed by a dedicated team of qualified child care workers and has recently received a good report for their Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales biannual inspection, this can be viewed at http://www.cssiw.org.uk">www.cssiw.org.uk

The staff have all worked tirelessly to keep the group, which has served the families of Monmouth and the surrounding areas for more than 30 years, open.

"We are all extremely grateful for the help Bridges have given us and the support from parents and the local community, we could not have continued this long if we had not had this loyal support.

"We are so sorry and saddened that we may have to take this decision to close," said MCU5 supervisors Sue Weston and Angela Morgan.

Mark Walton, centre director at Bridges, said: "We are very sorry that MCU5 is in danger of having to close after the many years of excellent service they have provided to the community.

"We are very happy to have them here at Bridges and they have contributed in a very positive way to the life of the community centre.

"We have offered them the opportunity to stay at a rent that is still considerably below our normal charges and I very much hope that they will be able to raise sufficient funds to be able to do this if they are unable to find alternative premises."

The group has until the end of term to try to raise additional funds and/ or find suitable, affordable premises that would give them a permanent home.

If they are unable to do this, they may have to say a sad goodbye to the children and parents on their register on Friday 22nd March.

If anyone is able to help the group with premises or sponsorship contact Sue or Angela on 07901722687.