Hurst school appeals for votes for £25,000 grant

St Lawrence School, in Hurstpierpoint, has applied for a £25,000 grant from the Aviva Community Fund to go towards a cover for the pool and hopes the people of Mid Sussex will take to the internet to vote for them.

More than 3,300 projects have applied to the fund and have until May 31 to amass as many votes as possible – but only 362 will be successful.

Teaching assistant Kate Halls, who is also chair of the St Lawrence PTA, said: “The children have so much fun swimming, not to mention the exercise and skills they learn, but as our school grows it will only get harder to give them all this opportunity.

“The pool cover project is our number one priority – we really want to enable all the children to swim, all year round.”

St Lawrence recently underwent a large building project which has seen the school take in 90 pupils per year over the past three years, rather than the usual 60.

Children take part in swimming lessons from May, once the weather gets warmer but, with school numbers expected to rise from 520 to 630, the amount of time each child spends in the water will fall drastically.

The St Lawrence PTA have set themselves the goal of raising £40,000 towards the cost of building a cover for the pool.

While money will be raised at a Roald Dahl summer fete on June 6 and local businesses have been asked for help, the school realistically needs outside funding to get the project rolling.

Kate said: “If all the readers of the Mid Sussex Times logged in and supported this village primary school, we really believe we have a chance of beating some of the larger, city communities we’re up against and maybe winning the money.”

To vote, visit www.aviva.co.uk/community-fund, click the Vote Now button and search for St Lawrence. Voting is open to everyone and each person can vote 10 times.

If anyone feels able to help, they can contact [email protected].

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