FIND YOUR PTA PATH – The PTA Explorer


The school’s previous pitch became unplayable, with pupils crossing their fingers for fundraising success for a new one


change it for different audiences. I started researching national charities and sports funders such as the National Lottery, but a lot of them won’t fund projects in schools.


Thinking local So I changed my approach and


adopted a more local perspective. Abingdon is close to Oxford, where a big science community has grown up around the university. Some of these businesses are quite large and focus on philanthropy and community outreach. The Sanghera Foundation, set up


by Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, caught my eye. It’s a charity that aims to help improve education, particularly physical education. As soon as I found them, I thought, boom, we’re going to get in there. I was surprised to find quite a few


other hidden charities that hadn’t come up in my searches. One day, I asked our headteacher why we couldn’t extend the pitch onto a patch of land behind the school. He explained that it was owned by an organisation called Christ’s Hospital. I’d never heard of them but I discovered they are an ancient charity who still own a lot of buildings and land locally. One of their stated objectives is to provide educational support to school pupils


With the funding in place and the work complete, the new pitch was opened by Gordon Sanghera, whose Sanghera Foundation aims to help improve education, especially physical education


from Abingdon. In the end they were our biggest donor. We were also fortunate to receive


a personal donation from a family who wanted to give something back to the school. Abingdon on Thames Council told


me they couldn’t give directly to schools but donated money from their community fund, and the school allocated some funds from its capital expenditure budget.


Demonstrating our need Showing potential funders why we


needed the pitch so much was critical, so I held three walk arounds where I explained how important physical health is for good mental health. From the perspective of the donors, actually seeing the state of the pitch was quite different from reading about it in an application. Once they saw the situation, they understood the need, and it was a done deal. I kept the school and PTA up


to date with each funding application. FOCS would review my drafts and give feedback. They also managed the financial side. Once I had secured some funding, I would put the donor in touch with the FOCS treasurer. Donations came directly to FOCS and they paid the contractors.


The school groundskeeper was a big part of our team. He got all the quotes for the work, chose the supplier and managed the contractors.


The end result It took almost a year to get the


funding and restore the pitch but it has completely revolutionised sport at our school. We encourage the children to play a variety of sports, such as football, netball, hockey and tennis. An external company comes in to run PE lessons twice a week and organises camps during the holidays, with the money going back into the school PE budget. All the children love having a new


space to play and our SEN children tell us they love the pitch because it’s soft and warm. When everything was ready, we


For the donors, actually seeing the state of the pitch was quite different from


reading about it in an application. Once they saw the situation,


they understood the need, and it was a done deal


held an unveiling ceremony and invited all our donors. A governor of Christ’s Hospital, who’s a keen footballer, even got me on the pitch for a kickaround. This person with a grand title, who had helped us so much, was just delighted to play with the children. We’ve created such lovely links between our school and local benefactors, and relationships are what make these things flow. Beth Fordham, Friends of Carswell School, Carswell Community Primary School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (224 pupils)


26 AUTUMN 2023 pta.co.uk


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