Ellen Glover, 31, was employed as a finance and administration assistant for Edith Cadbury Nursery School, originally a charity that became a Birmingham maintained nursery in 2014, funded by the local education authority.
Ms Glover had a key to the school safe which contained cash and cheque books to its four bank accounts. Over the 12 months to July 2016, she wrote 30 cheques to herself for a total of £39,500 from a little-used charitable donations account, the court heard.
Her actions first came to light when a bank statement for the account was received in September last year, showing that five unauthorised payments had been made to her.
Regan Peggs, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said the nursery was of huge value to the local community, but had to cut staff pay and hours and generate money through fundraising in order to survive.
Ms Glover’s lawyer, James Bryce, said the defendant’s problems started when her daughter was born six years ago. Ms Glover found herself struggling financially when her income was reduced but her husband still insisted that she pay half of the bills, the court was told.
Ms Glover claimed she started stealing money from her employer when payday loan debts she had taken out started mounting up and she found herself in severe financial difficulties, the Birmingham Mail reported.
Recorder Stephen Thomas described Ms Glover’s actions as not the most sophisticated of frauds, according to the newspaper.
‘You took £39,500 from your employer, ...which was struggling to keep its head above water at a time when people were making sacrifices within the organisation.
‘Your response was to try and shift your financial difficulties on to them by the taking of that considerable sum of money,’ Mr Thomas said in passing sentence.