A nursery worker from Paignton has celebrated over 20 years of service at a local day nursery and pre-school.

Racheal O’Reilly has spent her career working at the Mama Bear’s Day Nursery and Pre-School at South Devon College in Long Road where she is an Early Years Educator with a Level 3 qualification.

The family-run business, headed up by husband and wife team Tony and Bev Driffield, celebrated Racheal’s achievement by awarding her with £250 and a special letter and certificate.

Racheal said: “It is an honour to be celebrating my 20 years+ anniversary with Mama Bear’s. I love my role so much so it doesn’t feel like a chore coming here!

“In the past 20 years I have cared for countless children, and then their younger siblings and younger siblings after that! Watching them grow and move onto big school has been such a pleasure and I particularly enjoy the good relationship we have with our children’s

families. Watching the children develop into confident individuals is so rewarding and I’m lucky to work with a fabulous team too.”

Mama Bear’s provides a home-from-home environment for children and the group has 24 settings across Somerset, Devon and Bristol.

The company recently launched its official Long Service Awards and Racheal is one of the first recipients of the accolade.

Mama Bear’s Long Road nursery manager Carly Wilkinson said: “Racheal is a huge hit, not only with the children but also with their families and the wider nursery team. Racheal is always giving her all to make sure the children are reaching their full potential so it’s great that this award is giving her some well deserved recognition.

“We hope that Racheal will be with us for many more years to come and we look forward to celebrating other members of the team as they reach their long service milestones.”

Mama Bear’s Day Nurseries are aimed at providing children with their first vital level of education to give them a head-start when they start at primary school.

If you would like to find out more about Mama Bear’s visit www.mamabear.co.uk