Countryside Partnerships continues to support local schools across its London regions with the latest initiative involving Partnerships’ Meridian One project team engaging with West Lea school – a school catering for students aged between four and 11 with special educational needs and disabilities.
The relationship between Partnerships and West Lea began in 2021. Given the school’s close proximity to the development, the team wanted to open up lines of communications, and offers of support, given its strong relationships to the local community.
Bryn Parker, social value manager, met with West Lea’s head teacher, Emma Driver, introducing himself and the company to communicate the planned works at Meridian One which Countryside would be delivering in the area over the next few years, and to find out how the business could support the school.
The relationship between the Partnerships team and West Lea School has since evolved, with Partnerships lending their support to a number initiatives, including: staff joining the school celebrating ‘World Book Day’, volunteering their time to read with students, through to organising and delivering collaborative educational talks with organisations such as the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust.
More recently, during a follow up meeting between Partnerships resident liaison manager, Shareen Moutawafiq and West Lea’s head, it became apparent that, due to financial constraints, the school was finding it hard to meet the costs of installing vital equipment for the students. Shareen was joined by Partnerships site manager, Tony Farrow, and the pair devised a tailored programme of tasks to support the delivery of additional, much-needed facilities with support from local sub-contractor partners who donated not only materials but also volunteering time.
Supply Chain members involved included local businesses: Effects Decorating Services, J&L Carpentry and Ad-Bly Groundworks, who were appointed, on a voluntary basis to form a team responsible for painting all fences, building, and creating sensory boards, installing lids over existing planters and safety netting.
In total, 57 hours were volunteered across six days delivering a fantastic project, creating huge excitement for the school, its students, and teachers included.
Head Teacher, Emma Driver, said: “The school playground looks incredible -thank you so much to the Countryside Partnerships project team and contractor for all their hard work in delivering these much-needed improvements for our students. It’s made such a difference to our students experience during outdoor playtime.”
