A school for children with special needs will put the money it receives from a grant towards new playground equipment - how much it gets depends on you.
Colnbrook School is one of the ten groups across the south-east that has been shortlisted to receive a share of £16,000 from the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the Watford Observer’s parent company. But it is up to readers to decide how this money is shared out.
Situated in Hayling Road, Watford, Colnbrook is a special school for children aged between four and 11 years, with learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorders and speech and language difficulties.
The school was built in the late 1940s and the current playground facilities in the upper school were installed during the 1990s. These facilities are now very tired, with some elements breaking up through wear and tear or weathering.
The school is thrilled to have made the final ten in the region for the Cash for Charities campaign. It is raising money to update the upper school playground to ensure the equipment within it offers the range and breadth the children need.
Pupils have a range of needs at Colnbrook from severe to more moderate learning difficulties. Other children have physical difficulties and the school wants to ensure the playground is inclusive and they can access this alongside their peers.
Headteacher Caroline Aplin said: “Within this current climate we are delighted that we have the opportunity to raise some funds to go towards our project. The children deserve the very best to ensure they are supported in both physical wellbeing and any social, emotional wellbeing learning areas of the curriculum.
“We have some exciting plans and hope with the funding we will be able to move forward with our development."
To help Colnbrook update their playground, mark your choice on the form on page 24 of this week’s paper, which can then be taken to collection points across our region or posted.
Each token collected will then be used to allocate cash to the nominated charity – so if your favourite charity collects 50 per cent of all to tokens collected, it will receive 50 per cent of the £16,000.
Tokens should be sent to Readers’ Choice, Echo House, Howards Chase, Basildon, Essex SS14 3BE. They can also be dropped off at collection points at the charities, which will then forward them.
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