Two schools share their stories


‘We raised more than £6,000 to fund a school trip’


Downsell Primary is a maintained school in an area of deprivation, with one of the highest levels of SEND pupils in the east London borough of Waltham Forest. Our roll has fallen in   committed to inclusive education, and every one of our pupils is valued as an individual. Our aim is to ensure that coming to school is a positive experience and we place great emphasis on providing cultural capital opportunities for our children, regardless of barriers they may face. We aim to give them ten key life experiences before they


6 SPRING 2023 FundEd


leave our school – and going to the beach is one of them. Last year our headteacher, Deena


Chetty, found out during a whole school assembly that most of the pupils had never been to the beach.  trip to Canvey Island, a sandy beach located in the Thames Estuary just off the coast of Essex. The idea was that each year group, from Reception to Year 6, would travel by coach and spend the day connecting with the natural environment of the beach. The school needed £6,000, but we didn’t have a PTA at the time, so the


fundraising campaign was driven by the head and other staff. We ran several after-school events, selling ice lollies, burgers and chips and other snacks. We also held a summer fete. The parents loved every event and we raised about £3,000 in total. The headteacher also approached a local development company running a regeneration project in our area and managed to secure a £2,000 donation. That left us £1,000 short. I looked on the Funded.org.uk


grants database and struck lucky. I found two charities that support projects to encourage outdoor


‘Our headteacher found out that most of the pupils had never been to the beach, so he decided to fundraise for a day trip to Canvey Island’


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