Janet a children’s champion

ONE in a million . . . Janet Clegg

NURSERY owner Janet Clegg has looked after thousands of babies and toddlers over past 16 years but she never forgets a face.

And her steely determination to give her young charges the best possible start in life has earned her a Pride in Oldham nomination.

Janet (50) runs Moorside Pre-School and Nursery in Haven Lane along with her team of seven staff who she calls her family.

She said: “I have once woken up and dreaded going to work. I absolutely love my job.

“I see teenagers nowadays who I used to look after and they call me Auntie Janet.

“It’s lovely to see the children growing from babies and you do form strong bonds with them and their families.”

The nursery was targeted by vandals on four separate occasions last year leaving the tots in tears. But Moorside lottery winner Tommy Cone, who scooped £4.2 million in 2003, came to the rescue to provide new security fences which has kept the vandals at bay.

Janet, of Sholver Hill Close, says she will continue to run the nursery until she can no longer do it.

She said: “It is not a job, it is something I love dearly. To be nominated for a Pride in Oldham Award is fantastic. I am over the moon and chuffed to bits.”

Janet was nominated by Paula and Nigel Pemberton, whose son Oliver left the nursery last year for Our Lady’s Primary School in Moorside.

They said: “Janet is one in a million. Nothing is too much trouble and she will help anyone and everyone.

“She is very community minded and will always go that extra mile. She works really hard to give all the children a brilliant start in life.”