Simple Life Supporting Local Schools

The schools selected are Monksdown Primary School in Norris Green, Liverpool; Mills Hill Primary School in Chadderton, Greater Manchester and Riverview Primary School in Salford. Over in Sheffield, St Theresa’s Catholic School will receive funding, along with Galton Valley Primary School in Smethwick in the West Midlands.

Every school has different requirements, so the donations of £8,000 each will cover a range of improvements, including better playgrounds, reading areas and libraries, as well as sensory play areas and gifts for the children, such as books on their birthdays and theatre trips.

Vicky Hurcomb, Marketing Manager from Simple Life, said: “We are working hard to develop and improve communities in each of the areas where our chosen schools are situated by building much-needed new homes, so it makes sense for us to support the schools, pupils and teachers in these areas if we can. We earmarked this funding at the beginning of the year and the projects that we are working on are really starting to take shape now, which is fantastic to see. We take our CSR commitments very seriously and hope we can continue to provide help and support for amazing communities like these in the future.”

Mills Hill is the first school to complete their funded project, and we were delighted to attend the launch of two new playsheds for both the older and younger year groups. Previously, older children had access to a ‘scrap yard play shed’ which proved to be very popular, encouraging imaginative play amongst the children. As the school has grown, the playground has had to be split into different age groups, so Head Teacher Ian Mason wanted to use the money to create a new scrap yard play shed for the younger children, as well as making further additions to the playground like bringing in new benches. The older children are also now benefitting from a new, durable metal container shed and a host of additional play and sports equipment to enhance break times and lessons.

Mr Mason commented, “One of our priorities here at Mills Hill is to enhance the quality of our lunchtime experiences for children. We encourage our children to be both active physically and to be creative with their environment. The much-needed money has increased our equipment for children and will result in more active and creative lunchtimes.”