TWO clubs are set to prove better than one for hundreds of children living on the edge of York as they prepare to move into a new base for fun and learning.

A pair of York charities – the Jack In The Box Preschool And Boddler (Baby & Toddler) Group and Wigginton Out of School Club – have joined forces to form The Wonder Years Pre-School And Extended School Facility.

Their merger will see them share a brand new collective home in the grounds of Wigginton Primary School, which is to replace a former caretaker’s bungalow and allow the clubs to move out of their previous outdated and cramped facilities in two mobile classrooms.

Refurbishment work on the new building has now been completed and the children the new organisation will cater for – who span an age range of three to 11, covering several hundred families in Wigginton, Haxby and surrounding areas – are now eagerly anticipating its pre-Christmas opening, having come up with the Wonder Years name themselves.

“We’re absolutely delighted the new building is almost complete and we can’t wait to move in,” said Paula Stainton, who chairs the Wonder Years management committee.

“The bungalow offers double the amount of space we had before and has been purpose-built for children of all ages. Our aim is to make this a home away from home for the children who come here.

“They have been going over to the site once or twice a week to see the work progressing and, now it’s completed, they’ve had their first look round the new building.

“We’ve been constantly fundraising and saving carefully over the last five years in the hope that a move might happen, so we can completely kit the space out with new equipment and we’re hoping to get funding for new IT equipment. This new building will give us so much more scope.”

Wonder Years’ base will boast two activity rooms with separate areas for messy play activities, construction games, role-playing and dressing-up fun, storytelling and quiet reading, as well as computer access, gaming stations and spots for homework study and research.

“The children are as excited as we are about the impending move and they have been involved every step of the way,” said pre-school manager Jacqui Daker, who, with her extended school counterpart Claire Blackhurst, has also been heavily involved in the project.

“They will be helping us to plan the landscaping of the external area next, which will be ready in the spring.”