The manager of Exmouth's All Saints Pre-school is in the running for a national Children's Champion award.

Helena Meineck is among 10 finalists of the awards scheme run by the nursery management company Famly, which says it wants to recognise 'the vital and skilled work that goes into educating and caring for our youngest children'.

The company invited members of the public to nominate outstanding early years professionals in their area.

Helena was nominated – without her knowledge – by a local resident, who said: "Helena is an exceptional practitioner and leader.

"She has supported a small setting in the heart of Exmouth with high numbers of vulnerable children for 12 years.

"She has overcome many challenges to keep her setting open and ensure that the children and families she supports can access to the best early years provision possible.

"She is always on to the next exciting and innovative idea to improve outcomes and her relentless focus which is always on the children, giving them the best opportunities to achieve their potential no matter what the barriers, is an example to us all."

Helena said the first she knew about the nomination was through Facebook: "It seems there were over 700 nominations of Early Years Professionals throughout the country. It came as a huge surprise to me when they emailed me to say I had been shortlisted in the top 10."

Proud to be running a multi-cultural pre-school

She said she's particularly pleased with her work to make the pre-school as inclusive as possible, welcoming children from all nationalities. She said:

"I lived abroad for over 20 years and I know from personal experience how daunting it can be raising a small child in a country that is not your own – so it was really important for me to reach out and support the non British and mixed nationality families and their children in Exmouth too.

"I am proud to stay that we are now a multi-lingual, multi-cultural pre-school and it is a very exciting place for everyone to be."

Gemma McIntyre, whose child is currently at All Saints Pre-School, said: "This is a well-deserved nomination. Helena works so hard and puts all her care into the children, families and the pre-school making it a very fun but safe place to be. It's like a home from home for our children and we are all very grateful."

Wide-ranging support for families

In her 12 years at All Saints Pre-School, Helena has introduced home-cooked meals, organised regular family-oriented events and brought in flexi hours for the children.

She worked to create a 'Secret Garden', initially for children with Special Needs in mind, but now enjoyed by all the children.

During the first lockdown last March, Helena started a WhatsApp group to keep in touch with the children and their families, and after the lockdown ended she kept the pre-school open over the summer holidays so that the children could play safely with their friends, and parents could get back to work.

She said running the pre-school has become 'her whole life', rather than just a job, and has paid tribute to her 'dedicated and wonderful' staff, Helen, Monika and Bozena.

She said: "My untiring passion to always make children's start in life a positive one will never end – my work won't stop here.

"Being chosen as one of the top ten Early Years Professionals in the country is an enormous honour and it's given me a really big incentive to continue onwards in this amazing journey."

She will find out whether she has won the top prize at the end of March – if so, she'll get a £5,000 reward and free access to some of Famly's software and other products. There are smaller prizes for all the other finalists.