M6toll helps happy hens into their new home
A Cannock primary school’s ‘funky free-rangers’ project was given eggs-actly the boost it needed by the M6toll.
Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL), operators of the M6toll, chose St Luke’s Church of England Primary School to receive £2,000 of funding after hearing about their plans to rear chickens and sell the eggs.
The donation helped to purchase a selection of hens, a sturdy and safe hen house and chicken run which is located on the school field, enabling children to interact with the birds on a daily basis.
Assistant headteacher Mike Thornhill said: “We already have an allotment at the school, which provided a healthy harvest, but the children hatched a plan to set up their own Funky Free Rangers egg sales.
“The entire project has offered them an eggs-ellent learning eggs-perience – from developing a business plan and selling shares to help pay for the chicken feed, to creating their own marketing plan, complete with advert and jingle!
“They carefully researched hens and we travelled to the Domestic Fowl Trust in Stratford upon Avon to select ‘our girls’. We now have a crack team of hen handlers taking responsibility for the welfare of the hens, who are a much-loved addition to the school family.”
Representatives from MEL visited the school to meet the happy hens and find out how they had settled into their new home.
Sheena Hawkins, from M6toll, said: “You’d have to be really hard-boiled not to be inspired by the children’s plans for this project, which has helped them to develop their entrepreneurial skills as well as giving them a deeper understanding of where their food comes from.
“The way they have taken responsibility for the chickens is a credit to the school and its values of nurturing and taking care of others.
“We were treated to some of the first eggs that their girls had laid and they were delicious, so I’m certain this tasty business opportunity will be an eggs-traordinary success!”
M6toll recently launched its new community funding initiative – Drive For Charity. For more information about MEL’s charity support click here
You can also Read Another Drive for Charity Article Here.
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