The Freemen have been publicly thanked for helping support the creation of a “fantastic” sporting asset at a primary school on the outskirts of the city.
Over two years ago the Parent Teachers’ Association at Neville’s Cross School appealed for help in raising £60,000 to cover costs of developing an all-weather multi-use games area within the school playing field that was often so “wet and boggy” it was out of action for most of the year.
Staff, parents and youngsters spearheaded a wide range of fund-raising events that included a relay swim by parents across the English Channel. But they also relied on donations from a range of local organisations and sponsors – that included a £500 grant from the freemen.
Work started on the project in June of this year and it is now used every day in term-time by the school’s 280 youngsters and by the wider community outside of school hours.
“It has proved to be a fantastic addition to our school,” said acting head teacher Charlotte Ferguson.
“When we launched the appeal £60,000 seemed such a vast amount. While a tremendous amount of effort came from within the school we could not have done it as quickly without the support of organisations like the City of Durham Freemen,” she added.
The chairman of the wardens of the freemen, Eric Bulmer said: “We were pleased to offer our support to what has been a tremendous effort by the school to create a wonderful facility that will also be used by the local community.”
