Cover story
‘A portfolio approach paid for our amphitheatre’
O
ur plans for a community amphitheatre captured people’s imagination. Even at the early
stage of planning permission, our parish council offered to put in £10,000. We also received £4,000 in grant funding from the Southover Manor General Education Trust (a charity local to us) and a further Foundation. To this we added £20,000 from our leisure facilities contract. Our brilliant PTA, Downlands
School Association, donated a year’s worth of funds (£20,000) from their summer and Christmas fairs, and other fundraising activities. The local rotary club donated £500 and West Sussex County Council gave us £1,000. We raised £2,000 through crowdfunding and £2,000 from advertising on school folders. A local garden centre kindly provided 30 sleeper benches for the amphitheatre at cost price and we raised additional funds by asking
people to sponsor a bench. The balance was covered by income raised from school improvement work and a small amount of school fund money – Gift Aid from parental contributions. With such goodwill, it took
just over a year to get funds in place and the amphitheatre opened in July 2019. The students were very excited to use it, and there was huge buy-in from the local community. We had open-air theatre events lined up for summer 2020, which had to be cancelled because of Covid. However, the amphitheatre has provided invaluable outside classroom space and worked well as a social area for our Year 7s, as we rebuild our lettings programme. Mark Wignall, headteacher, Downlands Community School, Hassocks, West Sussex (1,200 pupils)
‘Local grants funded our playground theatre’
A
CASE STUDY
fter many years of use, the playground equipment and trim trails at our East Grinstead primary school were
looking the worse for wear. There were areas of dead space, and parts of the playground that were unusable due to excessive mud or uneven paving. It was time for a facelift, and the PTA came up with the idea of an outside stage. This would enable the children to perform and role play during playtime. It could also enhance learning by becoming a dedicated area for storytelling, poetry recitals and drama. In late 2020, the PTA applied to two local
funders: East Grinstead Memorial Estate and East Grinstead Lions. Approaching funders in our town made sense as we knew they would be keen to help the community. The application processes were quick and straightforward. We submitted photographs of the space, together with costed proposals of how we could make it more engaging. East Grinstead Lions particularly liked
the idea of a stage, and awarded £795 for one to be installed. The application to East Grinstead Memorial Estate provided an additional £1,500, allowing us to commission the installation of a larger wooden stage area. This is now complete and has been named the Elemental Arena after a vote of delighted pupils. Sarah Everson, secretary, Friends of Halsford Park School, East Grinstead, West Sussex (410 pupils)
16 SPRING 2023 FundEd
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