The Friends of Baileys Court Primary School is one of a number of local voluntary groups calling on the support of the local community to help win funding through a national competition organised by insurance company Aviva.
The group, which is seeking funds to replace the condemned ‘bark park’ area in the school playground, is asking local people to cast votes in the Aviva Community Fund 2016 competition, to increase its chance of winning up to £25,000 for the project.
In a project description submitted as part of its competition entry, the group states: “The benefits of outdoor play to primary school children are well know, including improved vision, reduction in ADHD symptoms, reducing stress in children as well as contributing to a healthy and happy learning environment. This is why Baileys Court Primary School desperately needs funding to help regenerate much of its outdoor play area, which is currently severely limited due to safety concerns. These spaces are not just for the benefit of pupils at the school – they will be an asset to the whole community as they are also available for use by local pre-schools and other groups who provide families with much needed support after school and in school holidays.”
Other local groups to have entered the Aviva competition include:
- The 1st Bradley Stoke Scout Group, seeking up to £10,000 to purchase its own box van trailer, which would make camping trips more affordable and allow them to be organised more frequently.
- The 1st Stoke Gifford Scout Group, seeking up to £1,000 to put towards the purchase of a community defibrillator unit that would be installed outside the Old School Rooms.
- Aretians RFC, seeking up to £10,000 to provide training lights for its second team pitch in Little Stoke Park, in order to relieve pressure on its main pitch, which gets badly churned up in winter.
Anyone who lives in the UK and registers on the Aviva Community Fund website (community-fund.aviva.co.uk) can vote for projects until 18th November. Each person gets ten votes, which can be spread around or used to support a single project. The winners will be announced in January 2017.
This article originally appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 51). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
Postscript (16/11/16): Here are direct links to the voting pages for local groups:
- Friends of Baileys Court Primary School seeking up to £25,000 to provide three outdoor play spaces
- 1st Bradley Stoke Scout Group, seeking up to £10,000 to purchase its own box van trailer
- 1st Stoke Gifford Scout Group, seeking up to £1,000 to put towards the purchase of a community defibrillator unit
- Aretians RFC, seeking up to £10,000 to provide training lights for its second team pitch
- Bradley Stoke Gymnastics Club seeking up to £1,000 to buy new apparatus
- Southern Brooks Community Partnerships seeking up to £10,000 to improve the green spaces in Patchway
