Dear Mr Van de Laarschot, We are writing to you regarding the lack of communication by the SLT of Nottingham College regarding your closure of Basford Hall Campus Nursery. Why have you once again decided not to discuss this issue with the Nottingham North community involved in the Save Basford Hall Nursery Campaign? How can you sit in your office and not consult the people campaigning from Nottingham and councillors of Nottingham City who respectfully invited you to discuss the issue on Mon 16th July 2018 at a Public Meeting? Do you feel this lack of communication is appropriate for the CEO of one of the biggest Further Education colleges in the UK? You are head of an eductional establishment that seems to be ignoring a key part of the community it serves - do you agree? Why be dismissive and disrespectful to our councillors and people of Nottingham who are asking for dialogue? As a group the Save Basford Hall Nursery Campaign were once again bitterly disappointed that you were unable to rouse yourself from board business and at least offer a short meeting with a small delegation of protestors on Wed 18.7.18 at Basford Hall. We had decided to demonstrate our support for keeping the nursery open at the college, basically because of your absence at our public meeting on Monday 16.7.18. That absence was made even worse by the fact you had agreed to attend, stating this in front of many staff at your Clarendon Campus Roadshow in July. The least you could have done on Wed 18.7.18 at Basford was to come out and talk to us. The Save Basford Hall Nursery Campaign is a range of determined, but well-behaved demonstrators. Your team could have asked us to elect a delegation of those involved with or affected by the decision to axe the nursery, to meet with you and for the board to consider all those questions the meeting had wanted to ask on Monday 16.7.18. Once again it was a no show from the CEO. It shows little respect for those affected and caught up in management decisions. Limited real consultation punctuated with roadshows and threats to just blunder on regardless and shut the nursery down. I'm sure any reasonable management would have at least considered having a discussion with us. Perhaps the Board of Govenors did consider talking to us, maybe you could enlighten us what was discussed regarding the nursery when you voted to close it on Wed 18.7.18. A large part of our community were let down on Monday 16.7.18 and have been let down again by the board of govenors who voted to close the nursery. With this decision the board seem to be showing little care or experience of the value of further education to disadvantaged communities like Nottingham North. We will contact the Nottingham Post again and others. We will not just go away because as you have said, there is no alternative to closure and Nottingham College has no 'financial or moral' responsibility to provide nursery provision. Nursery provision is not part of your 'core business' according to the direction you are taking the college in and that your 'customers' can find childcare places elsewhere. We have a 'moral' duty to continue with this campaign and we will. We know that you were described in WifeSwap as being part of the 'super rich', so it isn't much of a surprise to us that you don't seem to understand the devastating effects and barriers to learning that the closure of the nursery will cause to Nottingham North. Could we ask: what has shaped your moral compass and what support did you get when you were studying for your Engineering degree at Leeds University? Did you get a grant and free tuition fees at University? If you did then you benefitted from a state-funded, quite worry-free learning experience with financial support. Shouldn't we all have access to education, even young-mums in our community? You talked about 'empowerment' in decision making at your College Roadshows. Don't you think you should try to empower a little the people in Nottingham North who are not super rich regarding the nursery? Why can't you listen to us about the need of nursery provision at Basford Hall Campus? Don't we deserve to be heard? Our MP Alex Norris, Nottingham Councillors and the leader of the council can see that it is children, parents, staff and the local community who will suffer and pay the price when you close the nursery provision down. Don't you think the nursery closure will cause an unnecessary barrier to learning for some potential future learners? i.e. student-mums accessing the Care to Learn programme. Also, why is there no nursery provision planned for the City Hub Campus in 2021? Kind regards SAVE BASFORD NURSERY CAMPAIGN