A nursery which has been “three years in the making” had its official opening day.

A new Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries branch at The Avenue, Watford, held a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 9 to raise money for Raise, a charity which funds patient care in Watford General, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City hospitals.

Watford Mayor Peter Taylor came to cut the ribbon at the opening day.

Funds raised at the event will go towards the hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit which will help fund the specialist equipment and room refurbishments.

This is not the first time the nursery raised money for Raise, as in August during its open days they donated 50 per cent of the parents’ registration fees to the charity.

Ritika Verma, who manages the nursery with her husband Sachin, said: “We’re so excited to have the nursery up and running, and we were honoured to have they Mayor cut the ribbon.

“From our initial idea, this has been three years in the making. We’ve been on an incredible journey and it doesn’t stop here. We have so much planned for our little home-from-home and we can’t wait to put it all into action.

“We’re also delighted to have another opportunity to support Raise and the Special Care Baby Unit as it’s such an important charity to our community. Charity is important to our family and we want to instil this value at the heart of the nursery.”

The nursery, which is available for children from three months to five years, plan to run regular outings to aid the children’s learning and awareness of their surroundings.

They also have their own outdoor play area which includes a separate fenced garden for babies and a forest area that will provide children with the opportunity to grow and cook their own vegetables and herbs.