School committee secures grand boost from Wessex

A committee of parents, guardians and staff who raise funds throughout the year for a primary school in Swindon has been given a vital cash boost thanks to Persimmon Wessex.

Friends of Shaw Ridge Primary School has received a £1,000 donation from Persimmon Homes Wessex as part of its Community Champions scheme.

Persimmon makes £64,000 a month available to fund local community initiatives across the UK.

The parent-teacher association (PTA) brings local people together to form an all-inclusive group of volunteers to raise as much money as possible for the school.

The funds provide a variety of benefits for the children to enhance their learning and increase their enjoyment of the school environment.

Abbie Dart, from Friends of Shaw Ridge Primary School, said: “We’re currently trying to raise money for new books for the whole school so this generous donation from Persimmon Homes will help us massively.

“We try our best to support the school by enhancing the children’s primary education and it’s more important than ever to try plug that gap that’s been inherited from COVID.

“We recently started a community-sponsored read and installed a lending library within the school grounds so everyone has the opportunity to borrow and read a book.

“So far it’s been a huge success helping us raise 30% of the total project costs and therefore this grant from Persimmon will be used to top up the funds to provide some new and exciting reads for our children.”

Pauline Fletcher, sales director at Persimmon Homes Wessex, said: “It gives me great pleasure to be supporting Friends of Shaw Ridge Primary School this month.

“The PTA works closely with the teachers, offering extra help when required so we’re delighted to be using our Community Champions grant to assist their current fundraising campaign.

“Education has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic so to be able to play a small part in giving these children some new resources is really pleasing.”

For more information visit www.persimmonhomes.com, or to apply for Community Champions funding visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity.