St Theresa’s School is benefitting from a brand new library thanks to an £8,000 donation from Simple Life, a leading provider of new build home for the private rental sector (PRS) market.
The school, which is just off Prince of Wales Road in Sheffield, is next door to Simple Life’s Prince’s Gardens development which is a shared site with Sheffield Housing Company’s homes for sale.
Mrs Joanne Cupitt, Librarian at St Theresa’s School, said: “The donation has been used to buy plenty of new books for all of the children, which is proving very popular. There is also a sensory roof, reading pods and a fantastic den and mezzanine area, which is being used creatively to replicate different parts of popular books, for example, at the moment it is taking the form of a magical castle. The money has also funded a barcode scanning and checking in system which is used to track the books.”
Lulyana, one of the pupil librarians, said: ‘’The library is my favourite place to be in school.”
Simple Life, alongside energy and regeneration specialist ENGIE, is building 163 new private rental homes on the nearby Prince’s Gardens site, which will be available to rent from February 2019. The donation is part of Simple Life’s promise to support the local communities in which it develops new homes.
Victoria Hurcomb from Simple Life said: “As part of the library opening event, we were delighted to be asked to attend a school dinner, sitting on a VIP table with the librarians and pupils who recently won a reading competition. The children clearly love the new library and have got really involved, with a number of the children from each age group having taken on the responsibility of the library, helping other children to find books they might like, as well as checking books in and out.
“Projects like this are what Simple Life’s monetary donations are all about; building strong and happy communities”
Simple Life and ENGIE are working closely with Sheffield Housing Company (SHC) to provide homes of all types of tenure in the city. SHC was established by Sheffield City Council and private construction partners to improve the quality and choice of housing across the city, while creating jobs, encouraging investment and supporting the communities in which it works.
For more information on Simple Life Homes, visit: www.simplelifehomes.co.uk/princes-gardens