Two New Forest based organisations have benefited from Barker-Mill Foundation’s (BMF) support this summer. Both Marchwood Junior School PTA (parent-teacher association) and The Festival of Remembrance, held at Colbury Memorial Hall have received cash injections from the Foundation, helping both establishments to continue their great work.
Marchwood Junior School PTA received £750 from BMF to assist with core funding. The PTA are committed to providing children with extra resources and activities to enhance their junior school years, and continue to fundraise to ensure the school has the income to do so.
The contribution from BMF has enabled the school to make vast improvements to the front of the school and the children are now able to make use of the safe outdoor area which has been created by the PTA, school staff, friends and family.
The new area now boasts fake grass, building benches and raised flower beds for the children to plant flowers and vegetables. The donation has also enabled the school to provide contributions towards school trips and books for the children.
Ali Cross and Lou Thomson co-chair persons of the PTA at Marchwood Junior School are extremely grateful for the financial assistance. Ali said: “Our school is a family and all of us here strive to make it the best experience for our pupils. We continue to fundraise throughout the year so the children can enjoy new books, school trips and fun events.
“The donation from BMF has really made the front of the school an exciting place for the children to spend their time with our new flower beds in place. We rely on donations to make our school a place children would want to spend their days and we’re thankful to BMF for their help.”
BMF has also contributed to The Festival of Remembrance, an event the Foundation has supported for many years.
The Festival of Remembrance held at Colbury Memorial Hall, originally built by the Barker-Mill family, holds the event every year with all proceeds going to the Poppy Appeal. The event will take place this year on the 13th November at 7:30pm.
The donation of £250 from the Foundation covers the hire of the hall and the cost of the Ocean Brass band; the extra funds allow the organisers to send more money to the Poppy Appeal, a charity they’ve been supporting for over 20 years.
Sally Arnold, who organises the event said: “We’ve been supporting the Poppy Appeal for many years and we’ve raised over £40,000 for the charity. We can only continue to do so with the help of others, like BMF.
“We love holding the event at Colbury Memorial Hall as it’s a special day for many in the local area and the atmosphere in the hall is perfect for this occasion. We’d like to say a massive thank you to BMF for their continued support over the years.”
Tim Jobling, Trustee at BMF said: “We love to help local organisations and both Marchwood Junior School and The Festival of Remembrance do great work for the New Forest community. Marchwood School work hard for its pupils, and many leave the school at the end of year six as enriched and confident young students whilst The Festival of Remembrance holds a great event every year that brings the community together for a great cause.”
For more information about Marchwood School please visit http://www.marchwoodjuniorschool.org.uk/ or for The Festival of Remembrance please visit http://www.ashurstandcolbury-pc.gov.uk/local-information/amenities/ .