Member Article

North Yorkshire school to open its doors as a community venue

A new venture from a North Yorkshire school will enable local community groups to make use of its sports and performing arts facilities on evenings, weekends and during school holidays.

Egglescliffe School and Sixth Form College has joined forces with School Lettings Solutions (SLS) to open its doors and become a leisure venue for various activities, such as fitness classes, dance workshops and social groups.

SLS partners with schools, academies and colleges to fully manage their facilities at zero cost to the organisations, while linking them with local community groups in need of affordable space.

The popular school, which is based in the Cleveland community, will play host to activities such as karate and hockey. Local groups can now hire its facilities, which include a main hall, gymnasium, a sports hall, and an astro turf pitch, for regular classes or ad hoc events.

It is hoped the partnership will open up new opportunities to the school’s students, as well as people of all ages from the local area.

Jill Turner, finance director of Egglescliffe School and Sixth Form College, said: “We’re really excited to be opening up the school to the wider community. We are proud of the facilities we offer our students, such as our gym and astro turf pitches, and it makes sense to be able to offer our facilities during evenings and weekends when the site is available. The additional income this will generate will benefit our school.

“We’ve already got some great partners signed up to use our facilities, such as the GymMad Gymnastic Academy and the British Wado Karate Federation, and we’re looking forward to welcoming more on board. This can only be a positive thing for our students and people in the area.”

SLS currently works with more than 120 schools nationwide, helping them to make the best use of their facilities. It provides a fully managed service, including managing bookings and staffing the facilities to ensure rooms are secure and ready for the next school day. The business is expanding across the country and is looking to sign up schools in the North East of England, which are currently facing hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding cuts.

Paul Andrews, director of SLS, said: “It’s great to welcome Egglescliffe School and Sixth Form College as our latest partner. The school has got some brilliant facilities and we’ve already had lots of booking enquiries. We’re passionate about ensuring people have access to opportunities that boost their health and wellbeing, so we’re keen to provide local groups with marketing support to make sure their clubs thrive and are well attended.

“There is huge potential to provide more places like this for people of all ages to come together, which will be really positive for the area. At the same time, our partnerships provide a new stream of income for schools as their budgets come under more and more pressure.”

To enquire about the facilities that are on offer, call 01642 693 811 or email egglescliffe@schoollettings.org

For more information or to book facilities at Egglescliffe School and Sixth Form College, visit http://egglescliffe.schoolbookings.co.uk/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ursula Hutchinson .