M6toll announce school projects set to benefit from its £6k school initiative

Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL), operators of the M6toll road, are delighted to announce that the winners of this years’ School Foundation Scheme are: St Anne’s Catholic Primary School in Streetly, Moat Hall Primary School in Great Wyrley and St Luke’s Church of England Primary School in Cannock.

The scheme’s objective is to provide primary schools with the opportunity to access funds for projects and activities that normal school funding cannot provide. All primary schools located within a five-mile radius of the M6toll corridor were invited to complete applications for a substantial grant from MEL to help them deliver a chosen project. The three chosen schools will each benefit from a £2,000 cash boost for their project.

St Anne’s will use the funding to create a nurture room within the school for their Rainbow group (established to help the most vulnerable children in the school). The room will offer these children a safe, calm and comforting space.

Trish Johnston, Headteacher at St Anne’s Catholic School said, “We are thrilled and delighted to receive this cheque for £2,000. It is going to make a real difference to the pupils of St. Anne’s. Nowadays, children often face pressures and difficulties in their lives. The nurture room will provide them with a place where they can ‘chill out’ talk to an adult; receive advice and strategies to help them to deal with their troubling situations. It will be fantastic for us to be able to let the children have access to a comfortable and reassuring setting that hopefully will help as they explore often challenging and complex feelings”.

School Council pupils at Moat Hall Primary School believe everyone should be prepared for potential emergency situations. Their project will see the School Council receive First Aid training from St John’s Ambulance, which will enable the children to share their knowledge with other pupils and the wider community.

Jane King, Headteacher at Moat Hall Primary said, “The funding from the M6toll is gratefully received and will be used to establish our own first aid club which is something our children have requested themselves. This will add to the monies already raised by the children, through their own fundraising initiative, as they are passionate about learning how to help people in an emergency. This club will become an integral part of school life, empowering the children with the skills and confidence they need to become leaders of first aid in the community”.

Pupils at St Luke’s CE Primary School identified a business opportunity and will be setting up their own free range egg business. Shaun Miles, Headteacher said, “The children are thrilled after being selected for a grant from the M6Toll School Foundation. During the past few months pupils have been exploring the possibility of creating their own business with the ‘Funky Free Rangers’ becoming a much talked about project within school. The funding will allow us to kick start our business by purchasing our chickens, housing and landscaped areas. We have plans to sell shares in our business to our parents and we hope to begin selling our eggs from September 2018. Pupils will reap the benefits of managing their own business, caring for poultry, managing marketing and hygiene. We look forward to a flourishing future!”

As part of the School Foundation Scheme all Secondary Schools, Special Schools, Colleges and Sixth Form Academies in Staffordshire and Stoke, who own and maintain their own mini-bus, were encouraged to apply for free use of the M6toll road for the next school year. The Foundation received a large uptake on the scheme, processing over fifty applications.

Maxine Estevez head of MEL’s School Foundation said, “This year’s project applications were of an extremely high standard. The Foundation found it difficult to choose, but we’re very pleased with the projects that were chosen. Over the years we’ve seen what a huge difference this funding can make. We’re aware that schools can find it difficult to fund these additional projects, and we’ve seen some fantastic project ideas that will have huge benefits for local children. We were also pleased to offer our Minibus Scheme again this year. We know the schools really value this scheme, which allows teachers and pupils to spend less time travelling to their activities and more time enjoying them”.

This is the sixth year that the Schools Foundation initiative has been in operation. To date MEL have donated a staggering £60,000 which has helped schools fund a range of Different Projects.

Back to news