Building Society encourages pupils to splash out
Llanfoist Primary School, near Abergavenny have been granted £1,106 to buy waterproof clothing and wellies, after applying to the Building Society’s Charitable Foundation, which provides small donations to local community groups, initiatives and charities across south Wales.
Teachers and pupils at Llanfoist applied to the foundation after starting to think about what they could do for the environment both locally and globally.
After deciding they need to get outside more, to do more outside learning, the school made plans to build an outdoor learning hub on their grounds, so that they could incorporate outdoor learning into school life.
The school then applied to the Charitable Foundation to fund wellies and waterproofs so that poor weather will never be a barrier to outdoor learning.
Stewart Davies, Headteacher at Llanfoist Primary School said: “Outdoor learning is about exploring the learning opportunities all around us. With the unpredictable Welsh weather no longer a barrier, we can get children pond dipping, conducting experiments, orienteering and much more.
“Instilling a love of outdoors for future generations is essential. By shifting our focus in school and making outdoor learning a part of daily life we are sure our pupils will also inspire their families to go on to create biodiverse wildlife gardens, to re-wild sections of their garden like we have started to do on school grounds, to recycle more and to consider what changes they can make to make a sustainable difference to our planet.
“We are so grateful to Monmouthshire Building Society Charitable Foundation for facilitating our outdoor learning vision.”
Dawn Gunter, Chief Operating Officer at Monmouthshire Building Society and Trustee of the Charitable Foundation, added:
“It’s very important for the Society to be able to support our communities by providing modest donations that allow initiatives like this to thrive and succeed.
“We’re really keen to support initiatives like this one, that work towards the advancement of environmental protection and improvement. We’re delighted to donate wellies and waterproofs to the children at Llanfoist School to further their education and understanding of the environment.”
The Charitable Foundation is just one of a number of award winning community initiatives from Monmouthshire Building Society.
The Society recently won a top national award for Community Services at the Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards. The award recognised the support the Society has given to its members, colleagues and communities over the past year through their range of community initiatives, which in addition to the Charitable Foundation includes sponsorship for local grassroots organisation and a colleague volunteering scheme.
The award recognises the support the Society has given to its members, colleagues and communities over the past year.
Charities, community groups and grassroots organisations are invited to apply for funding by visiting monbs.com or dropping into their local Monmouthshire Building Society branch.
