An Edgeley nursery planned a carnival in under two weeks and raised £2,379.09 for Cancer Research UK. Now its families are filling bags for two food banks.
Little Giggles Nursery in Edgeley raised £2,379.09 for Cancer Research UK with a carnival its staff planned, built and ran in less than two weeks. Some of the games were made from pallets.
It was the first event of its kind the nursery had held. Office manager Sionade Wagstaff, who wrote to Stockport Today with the story, said more than 100 tickets were sold and the day was “full with families, friends, relatives, it was wonderful”.
“All money raised went to Cancer Research UK,” she said.
How a marathon became a carnival
The idea started with the nursery’s owner, Jamie Fitton, who was running the London Marathon to raise money for Cancer Research. Ms Wagstaff and nursery manager Helena Shelton decided to back him with an event of their own.
“Myself Sionade Wagstaff Office Manager and Helena Shelton Nursery Manager had the idea to host and organise a ‘Carnival for a Cause’ to support Jamie’s fundraising efforts and raise as much money as we could for this important cause,” Ms Wagstaff wrote. “With less than 2 weeks to plan, create and deliver the fundraiser.”
The nursery’s own account of the year credits the two of them with doing the legwork: “From communicating with families and organising tickets, donations and prizes, to coordinating the many details behind the scenes, they put their hearts into making the carnival happen.” The rest of the staff got the nursery and its garden ready and welcomed families on the day.
The day itself
The carnival ran from 2.30pm to 5.30pm on Thursday 16 April 2026 at the nursery, according to the poster. Entry was £4 for an adult and £1 for a child, and every stall was cash only: a cake sale, games and prizes, a raffle and tombola, and face painting.
There was a bouncy castle too, and Peppa Pig turned up.
“We even made our own games using pallets,” Ms Wagstaff said. The ring toss and hook-a-duck stalls in the garden were among them.
For anyone who wanted to give without coming along, the nursery built a wishing well where families and staff could drop cash donations and bring in money they had raised themselves. It stood next to a Name the Bear competition.
The nursery thanks St Matthew’s Church Edgeley, Chilli Massala Edgeley, A Star Bouncy Castle, Smash Burger and Life Leisure for their support.
“Community is a huge part of who we are at Little Giggles,” Ms Shelton said. “We feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such supportive families, local businesses and members of our community.”
Now: bags for two Stockport food banks
The nursery’s latest effort is a Harvest Food Festival. Families have been bringing in food, and the donations are going to The Wellspring and Stockport Food Bank. Staff set up a display of what came in, and the video below shows the bags lined up ready for collection.
“Families generously brought in food items, giving the children a wonderful opportunity to see how something as simple as donating a few items from the weekly shop can help someone else,” the nursery’s account says. The children talked about “where food goes, why some people may need support, how we can help others and how their own actions can make a difference”.
Each child who donated got a thank-you certificate and a sticker, along with harvest colouring pages.
A reply from Buckingham Palace
Last year the children marked World Post Day by making letters, pictures and self-portraits for the King, and walked them to the local post box. A reply came back from Buckingham Palace, dated 11 November 2025 and addressed to “Everyone in The Giggler Room, Little Giggles Day Nursery, Stockport”.
“The King has asked me to thank you for your message and for your splendid pictures,” it begins. It says the King “was interested to know that you celebrated World Post Day on 9th October, and greatly appreciated the care with which you created your artwork.”
“By our amazement we did receive a letter on behalf of the King,” the nursery says. The children will be writing again for this year’s World Post Day.
Carols, flowers and a standing invitation
Two other traditions run through the nursery’s year. Every Christmas the children sing carols at a local retirement home and take cards they have made for the residents and staff. The nursery says the home now contacts it each year to ask whether the children are coming back.
On World Kindness Day, children and staff went out on the local high street handing out flowers and handwritten notes. “There was no fundraising target and no big event to organise, just a simple message of kindness,” the nursery says.
The nursery links all of this to the early years curriculum. “Rather than simply talking to children about kindness, respect, empathy and community, we give them real opportunities to experience these values, talk about them, see them modelled by adults and put them into practice,” its account says.
What it means for you
If you have a child at Little Giggles, harvest donations are going to The Wellspring and Stockport Food Bank. If you are not a nursery family and want to help either food bank, contact them directly. Anyone with a community story from Edgeley or elsewhere in the borough can email us at hello@stockporttoday.co.uk.
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