School hoping to raise £90,000 for new school hall
A mammoth fundraising campaign has been launched by a south Shropshire school to raise £90,000 for a new school hall.
Lacon Childe School, in Cleobury Mortimer, has started the campaign and says they are "rural and poorly-funded in comparison to other inner-city schools."
Darren Reynolds, headteacher at Lacon Childe School, said they are looking to update the school's facilities and create a modern space that can be used by the whole community.
"We are trying to bring it up to date," he said. "Earlier around the 60s when this part of the school was built, they put the usual ropes and beams in – now it is dated and is the worse looking part of the school really.
"We want to bring it more up to date and make it into a venue that not only the school can use but the local community can use as well, for film nights and theatre nights and things.
"There was a dance group performing here before Christmas as well which was great and we want to continue that.
Investment
"It will hopefully become a proper hall with proper seating. The floor is a gorgeous wooden floor that we want to keep. We will have it done up and it will look like a ballroom."
In terms of raising the money, Mr Reynolds was clear that they wanted to make sure all the pupil funding money went straight into the student's education.
"It will be a good investment not just for our kids and their parents but for the community. We have an awful lot of money to raise.
"We did not want to use any pupil funding because we want our students to have the best education. The PTA are doing an amazing job at trying to raise funds.
"For a school as small as ours, it is hard to get enough funds. The PTA put in £6,000 and we have got about £15,000 in capital funds that we will put towards it.
"We are hoping past and current students will get involved as well as parents and families. We also hope to get in touch with local charities. We want to make the hall a nice environment for the students."
The money will go towards retractable seating, high quality stage lighting and a sound system, as well as air conditioning and general decoration.
