New Saddleworth kids village opens in time for summer

Little Village Saddleworth, at Oakdale Mill, is the new venture of Jodie Simpson, where children can play at mimicking adult life with jobs, shopping and even dining out.

The centre is a purpose-built play area with various typical village installations inside.

In the village there is a pizzeria, beauty salon, vets, post office, emergency services, construction company and a petrol station. 

Some of the children enjoying the fun at the Little Village Post Office (Image: Little Village Saddleworth)

Jodie said: "My little girl starts school in September and I used to work for my husband, but I knew I wanted something of my own.

"I had the idea to go into people's home to organise them- but then I had a look around Saddleworth and realised my girls were fed up of the same play centres but there was nothing else locally."

Jodie began to speak to families and found they were driving further afield to find new things to entertain the children. 

She added: "I had visited a play village with my eldest child when she was younger, but it was in Altrincham.

"There's nothing like this local- and this gives the children the opportunity to mimic what we [parents] do on a daily basis, as they want to."

Little Village officially opened on Monday (July 1) after a soft launch over the weekend and is now taking bookings for their sessions.

Some of the children playing in The Village Pets (Image: Little Village Saddleworth)

Jodie said that she expected the first few weeks of the business to be fairly quiet, but says they have had very busy sessions every morning.

Little Village is not just providing a fun environment for children, but it is also helping to build personality and confidence for them.

The mum said: "Watching some of the children, they have really opened up.

"We have interactive phones that can call from the phone box to the different shops and they are automatically striking up conversation together and either playing alongside each other or together."

Little Village also signed up with Home Start to be a verified breastfeeding-friendly setting.

Jodie's setting is now a certified safe place to breastfeed (Image: Little Village Saddleworth)

The plan for the village has been ongoing for two years, with issues finding a suitable space to set up, but once they found that space it took only three months to build the interior village. 

Also at the site, is a cafe for parents to use while their little ones have fun, which serves various cakes and a selection of sandwiches as well as local coffee business, Dark Woods Coffee.

Jodie says she has made an effort to make sure that visiting Little Village is an enjoying experience for parents as well. 

Dark Woods Coffee is served in the café at Little Village Saddleworth (Image: Little Village Saddleworth)

She said: "I find myself, as a mummy, when I go to a children's centre I want to treat myself to a nice coffee, but a lot of places fail to meet this.

"This is one of the biggest feedbacks we've had that they're just grateful that it's such a good coffee area, it's clean, it's inviting." 

They cater for ages from new-born to nine-years-old, but say if a parent believes their nine plus child may still benefit they should contact them to discuss if they are an appropriate setting.

Little Village Saddleworth is located at Oakdale Mill, Delph, Oldham OL3 5BY.