“If children don’t grow up knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it. And if they don’t understand it, they won’t protect it. And if they don’t protect it, who will?”    Sir David Attenborough

We need to raise £42,224 to create an outdoor classroom/lookout lodge and new trim trail for the pupils at Longparish CE Primary School.

Environmentally friendly, ecological and educational. It will enhance and enrich learning opportunities for all our children and will help to sustain the capacity of the village school in the years to come.

Our project is totally bespoke to us. Dependent, as much as anything, on the shape of timber that arrives from the timber yard!

The total cost of £42,224 is split into £14,973 for the Lookout Lodge and £27,251 for the Trim Trail.

We are looking for individual sponsorship for key elements of the project:

1) Full sponsorship of  ‘The Lookout Lodge’ for £14,973

2) Key elements of the Trim Trail:

• The Reading Den £4,450
• The Pole Climber Agility Structure £4,304
• The Multi-play Tower £3,900

Other ways to support and help us are to buy any of the following :

• Sweet Chestnut Poles used for the walkway arch @ £25 each or £32 (including fixings)
• Sleepers for the flower bed borders @ £22 or £35 (including fixings)
• Upright posts @£62 each
• Wooden planks @ £50

Please state what you would like to buy for the project when you donate online.

How to help:

We welcome support from individuals and local businesses.

If you would like to donate to our fundraising appeal, you can:

• Donate online at gofund.me/59107b3d
• Send a cheque (payable to Friends of Longparish School).

We will be running fundraising events over the next year to support the project.

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We want to replace our trim trail and at the same time build a raised ‘lookout’ classroom.    Being raised off the ground this will become a ‘hide’ for children to spot wildlife on the River Test. We know that there is a Kingfisher, whose territory is along the stretch of the river by our field. We also have a strong suspicion that there is an otter in the area. Currently though, children are oblivious to the magic and wonder that sits the other side of the fence.

Our intention is to create a soft and very natural looking structure that will sit well in this  beautiful countryside setting, using sweet chestnut timber materials. Around the structure we will then introduce low-maintenance wildflowers, sensory planting and shrubs that will, once established, attract birds, flying insects and mini-beasts.  The planting will also have the effect of creating a magical surround to the structure that the children will pass through on the way to the lookout platform, blending it into the river landscape beyond. The trim trail will be similarly made. Austere fencing will be replaced by a variety of softer woven panels and plant beds.

The lookout classroom will be a space that can be used all year round, for a range of different activities and learning opportunities. The frontage facing the river will  have a narrow, long window that will make it act like a birdhide - perfect for looking down on the river and spotting the animal wildlife living on the river and the watermeadow opposite.

This is an exciting project that we know the children will love and will be a fantastic addition to the school.  It will enhance and enrich learning opportunities for all our children and will help to sustain the capacity of the village school in the years to come.

However, it is a big fundraising project for a school operating on very tight budget restraints. We have an active PTA who are very excited to play a large part in helping us raise this money and we are also going for grants and other avenues of funding.

Your support in any capacity will be much appreciated.