Farnham Nursery owner honoured with OBE in New Years Honours list
Carolyn Stidston owns three nursery's in the county.
Last updated 31st Dec 2022
Carolyn Stidston runs three nurseries in Tilford and Farnham, under the name of CS Nursery Schools LTD, and has been honoured with an OBE for services to education.
Carolyn initially helped out at Tilford Meadow Nursery in 1998, for one month to help out, but fell in love with the job and decided to continue to work there.
She later bought Tilford Meadow Nursery, along with Pine Wood Nursery and Woodland Nursery.
Greatest Hits Radio spoke with Carolyn about the day she received the email.
"I was actually doing some special needs paperwork, beavering away, and an e-mail came up and I thought it was spam; a joke. I didn't think it was real.
"I thought, would you really get an e-mail just saying congratulations please, can you send us your details?
"So I actually rang the office and she said, oh, no, no, no. We've spent ages sending out these emails. It is definitely legitimate. So I was absolutely gobsmacked.
"I'm proud, honoured. Shocked, all of those things. Surprised. It just came as all these things do, it came totally out of the blue. Not a clue. Not a clue."
The nurseries in Tilford and Farnham have been supporting local families for decades, Carolyn in charge for over two decades herself.
Due to the nature of the job, Carolyn is thrilled to be honoured for helping families, as she believes that nurseries are often the first port of call for a family in need.
"You have to build a really good relationship of trust. And I think that's our one of our key sort of selling points.
"We care about the families and the children that we have, and I think the families feel safe, secure.
"I actually work in the nursery too, and I think that's really important because you're able to understand the families that you've got. I don't just sit in an office.
"It's just a very, very rewarding job, one I love."
For Carolyn's colleagues and her teams at each of the three nurseries, it's also an OBE for all of their hard work.
"It's also a reward for all the all the team that have worked for me or we were working for me now, who've worked for me in the past, because as I say, you can't do what I do on your own at all. It's not a one man job. It's a team effort.
"I know that they'll feel so proud and we're like a family in that respect, working, that's another thing that makes our nurseries unique.
"We are very close. I've got staff that work for me over 20 years. We've had people with five children, and they've been able to have the same key worker all the way through.
"I mean that that's quite unique and it says a lot about us as a group, doesn't it? So yeah, I'm very, very proud."
Carolyn joins other Surrey names receiving New Years Honours, including Sir Brian May and Dame Mary Quant.