It follows the collapse of the travel firm on Monday, which employed 1,000 employees at its headquarters in the city.
Little Owls Childcare is offering two-hour sessions to 10 families who were employed by Thomas Cook at its newly opened setting at Van Hage Garden Centre, a short distance from the former travel firm’s headquarters.
It also has a few spaces at its sister nursery in Wessex Close, Peterborough, which has been operating since 2014 and is rated good by Ofsted.
The free hours are open to children from age two to 11, have to be taken between 9am and 4pm and each family can take up a maximum of three sessions.
The group’s owner Abbi Goodwin and other members of her staff are volunteering their time to provide the free places
Little Owls’ Childcare at Van Hage Garden Centre officially opened last night. The 30-place nursery, which is open to children aged two-to-five, is Ms Goodwin’s second nursery. As part of the nursery, there is also a creche for two- to-11-year-olds.
Ms Goodwin told Nursery World, ‘When we heard the heartbreaking news about the collapse of Thomas Cook, we spoke as a team about how we could offer our support.
‘Thomas Cook is a big employer in the Peterborough area so it has affected a lot of people, and some of them are our friends.
‘Former employees of the travel firm may have to take their children out of their current nursery due to no income or not being able to afford extra days to attend interviews.
‘As our new nursery just opened, we still have a few spaces available to families. We are making this offer as a goodwill gesture to help families in the community.’
She added, ‘Former Thomas Cook employees can call us on the day should they need to for a free place, although it would be best to know in advance, but sometimes with interviews we know that this is not always the case. We will try to be as flexible as we can.’