A group of Yarm schoolchildren have left an insight into their lives for people in the future to find.
The Yarm Primary School pupils have buried a time capsule in the gardens of the town’s library as part of its refurbishment into a shared community space which will also house a Newcastle Building Society branch and financial advice centre.
The contents of the time capsule reflect both the pupils’ everyday lives and how we all live today, with items such as a school jumper, a timetable of lessons and examples of their work included in the time capsule, alongside a mobile phone, a newspaper, a list of current chart songs, a Euro 2016 wallchart and a shopping receipt to show how much things cost today.
The Year Five pupils have also included a letter in the time capsule to explain how the project came about and what they are hoping the people who will one day discover it will learn about life in the early 21st century.
A team from Yarm Primary School also recently took part in the final of Newcastle Building Society’s fifth annual Boardroom Charity Challenge, part of a wider programme aimed at improving financial education, and which asks young participants from right across the North East to develop business ideas that focus on benefiting their local community while also making a profit.
Work on the transformation of Yarm library is continuing on schedule, with a large activities room, wheeled book shelves, a new computer room and seating areas all set to feature in the bright and airy new look library.
The innovative partnership between Newcastle Building Society and Stockton Borough Council to introduce a branch into the library is the first of its kind in the UK, while an outside reading garden and community space is currently being designed by volunteers from Preston Hall Museum.
Building work is expected to complete later in the summer, with an autumn opening planned for both the library and the new Society branch.
Councillor Norma Wilburn, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Arts, Leisure and Culture, says: “The refurbishment of Yarm Library is going well and we are looking forward to working side by side with Newcastle Building Society to provide local people with a range of services from the new look branch.
“Projects like the creation and burial of the time capsule are a great way of involving the local community in the upgrade of their library, and I’d like to thank the children and staff at Yarm Primary for the creativity, imagination, and hard work they have brought to this project.”
The development of the new Yarm branch forms part of a £10m investment programme that Newcastle Building Society is undertaking this year to improve the way it delivers its service to customers, with improvements being made to its branch network, telephone and digital offering, and operational infrastructure.
Steve Urwin, managing director of sales and marketing at Newcastle Building Society, adds: “Yarm Primary School performed admirably in the final of our Boardroom Charity Challenge, and it’s great to see them putting so much thought and effort into creating such an interesting time capsule for future generations to find.
“We’re excited to be moving closer to returning a branch to Yarm through this unique undertaking, and to give local people even better access to the financial services and advice that we offer in what will be a fantastic community setting.”