Partner Article

Farnborough school benefit from housebuilder's donation

Children at a Farnborough school are set to get green fingers thanks to a donation from a leading UK housebuilder.

Persimmon Homes Thames Valley has selected St Bernadette’s Bees Pre-School to receive a £1,000 donation as a part of its Community Champions initiative, which seeks to support local groups and charities working to improve the quality of life or environment for the community.

The scheme invites local groups and charities to bid for cash from a £750,000 national fund, with two donations of up to £1,000 being made locally each month.

St Bernadette’s Pre-School plan to create a garden area that uses wooden equipment and natural resources for their pupils.

Lindsy Fitzpatrick, pre-school manager, said: “The children will benefit greatly from this generous donation from Persimmon Homes Thames Valley as we are now able to purchase wooden seating and a fire pit for our natural garden space.

“The children will be able to cook outdoors and on a larger scale than in the pre-school kitchen. Cooking is of great interest to many of the children and is a great way to introduce new foods to their diet.”

Since September the school has hosted a Macmillan Coffee Morning, raffle, film night and Christmas fair to raise funds for their garden.

Lindsy added: “It’s important that all children are given the opportunity to experience a natural learning environment to enhance their knowledge of the world around them.

“Watching vegetables grow from seed is sometimes an experience which children do not ever see, especially if they live in a built up area of Farnborough and have little access to outdoor space.”

Rachel Faulkner, head of sales for Persimmon Homes Thames Valley, said: “We are very pleased to announce St Bernadette’s Bees Pre-School as the latest beneficiaries of our Community Champions scheme.

“The school look after many children in the Farnborough area and we’re sure that their garden project will be of great benefit to the pupils.

“Persimmon Homes Thames Valley has had a fantastic response to its Community Champions scheme and it is always a tricky task to pick our winners each month.

“If applicants were unsuccessful last month, we urge them to visit the Persimmon Homes website and to try again and hopefully they will become our next Community Champion.”

Community groups, charities and good causes across the region have benefitted thanks to the donations from Persimmon Homes. Organisations can apply for funding by completing a simple online form at www.persimmonhomes.com/charity

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ross Watson .