First tour of Newport school's new £1.2 million sport facilities as appeal continues
Pupils, members of staff and Newport's mayor were given a sneak peek at new sports facilities at a school.
They were among the first to see the new £1.2 million pavilion at Longford Hall, which is owned by Haberdashers' Adams.
The school has already raised £900,000 for the project and is working to raise the remaining £350,000.
It has been fundraising for a new pavilion at its sports fields at Longford since May last year and, with building work progressing well, Newport mayor Councillor Peter Scott was invited to take a look inside alongside vice-chair of the school’s fundraising campaign board, Steve Hodgkiss and some of the school’s younger pupils.
Councillor Scott said: “This is a much-needed improvement on what the school had before. Once completed it’s going to be a fantastic asset to Adams, other schools in the area and the wider community.
"As it is so close to completion, I really hope the Newport community will help the school over their final hurdle to raise the total required.”
Campaign vice-chair Steve Hodgkiss has been championing the school’s fundraising campaign and says he is delighted to see how well the building is progressing.
Steve has a very close affinity with Adams, not only as a school parent and governor but also as a former pupil.
He said: “I am so pleased that pupils will soon have, hopefully, the sporting facilities they deserve.
Difference
"The old pavilion was in a poor state when I attended Adams over 20 years ago and certainly hasn’t been a nice facility for pupils to have to use.
"I know the school has been wanting to replace it for many years so it is really great to be able to help my old school to deliver something that will make a real difference to so many pupils now and for generations to come.
"We launched the fundraising campaign just eight months ago and have raised an incredible £940k so far, starting with a successful bid for funding from the Department for Education, however we need a further £350k to complete the build so the pressure is still on to raise the funds.”
Gary Hickey, the school's headmaster, said: “Physical education is a key part of a child’s education and we are incredibly passionate about being able to give our pupils the right facilities to support their learning.
"So many schools have fantastic sports facilities and given the high standard of play at Adams, it is only right that our pupils have good facilities too.
"As a state school however we simply do not have the money to do this kind of project on our own and so we are having to appeal to others for support.
"Our playing fields and pavilion are sited on the Grade II listed grounds of Longford Hall, which is also Grade II listed, so a number of stipulations have added to the overall cost of the build.
"We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped us to get as far as we have in such a short timescale and hope others will support us in raising the remaining £350k needed to finish the build."
The school’s new pavilion will be named the Lynn James Pavilion in honour of the former Head of Games at Adams who died, aged just 52, while refereeing a First XV match at Longford in 1986. Lynn had been in charge of physical education and games at Adams since 1963 and more than three generations of boys had learnt rugby from him.
Mr Hickey said: “Lynn was loved and respected by many and we were delighted when one of our old boys contacted us to donate £100,000 to have the pavilion named after his old PE teacher. We really couldn’t have wished for a more fitting tribute and would love to be able to get in touch with Lynn’s family. If anyone can help us with this, please do let us know.”
For more information about the pavilion campaign visit adamsgs.uk
