Green-fingered pupils at a Stockton primary school will be making the most of their outside space with the help of its latest grant from the community fund linked to a nearby wind farm.
William Cassidi C of E Primary School in Stillington used a £4,235 grant from the Lambs Hill Wind Farm community benefits fund two years ago to turn a fenced-off area within the school grounds into a new garden that features raised beds in which the children grow fruit, vegetables and flowers.
New wooden seating, garden equipment and storage facilities were also paid for by the grant, with pupils building bug hotels and bird boxes to provide new wildlife habitats and help support local biodiversity.
And now, a further £2,100 grant from the Lambs Hill fund has allowed the school to install a new path that will allow the children to access the garden area safely all year round.
Local contractor Early Bird Gardening Maintenance was commissioned to install new bark surface to the school garden area around the raised beds, while a stepping stone path from the school’s playground into the garden area has also been built.
The garden is regularly used for lessons across different parts of the school curriculum, with a special dedicated reading area included in the garden design at the pupils’ request.
Parents and carers also share time in the garden with their children and other families at the start and end of the school day, while it is also used by children from the school’s nursery and pre-school.
Various garden tools were donated to the school by local residents, while several community volunteers coming in to work alongside and support the members of the school’s gardening club.
William Cassidi C of E Primary School has around 200 pupils aged between three and 11 years old on its roll, and aims to provide them with a happy, safe, secure, challenging and stimulating learning environment which encourages the development of self-discipline, confidence and independence.
It’s the third grant that the school has received from the Lambs Hill Wind Farm community benefits fund, with a £3,000 grant given in 2019 funding the creation of a safe waiting area for families alongside the busy road at the front of the school premises.
The community benefits fund linked to the Lambs Hill Wind Farm, which is owned by leading independent renewable energy producer ERG and managed by OnPath Energy, provides around £12,000 of funding for local good causes every year.
The fund operates in line with ERG’s ESG Plan objective of fostering shared value and supporting the sustainable development of the local communities hosting its renewable assets.
Marie Goncalves, parent governor at William Cassidi C of E Primary School, says: “The children absolutely love being outside working in the garden or taking other lessons in the open air, while our gardening club is helping us build really strong links with the wider community.
“They were very closely involved with creating the garden, highlighting the resources they wanted to see included and building some of these items themselves, and are responsible for planting, growing and looking after lots of different types of produce, which gives them a fantastic opportunity to see for themselves how the growing process goes from start to finish.
“We’ve accessed the garden via the grass up to now, and with conditions underfoot naturally getting very wet and slippery in the colder months on what was an increasingly worn surface, there’ve been times where it’s not been safe for the children to use it.
“While we knew that it needed doing, this project would have stayed out of our financial reach if we’d not been able to access this latest grant from the Lambs Hill Wind Farm community benefits fund.
“As well as now being much safer for everyone to use, the bark area is also environmentally friendly and will last for a long time, and it’ll be great for the whole school community to have the chance to make year-round use of this brilliant outdoor space.”
Melissa Falconer, Head of Business Development UK of ERG, says: “In acquiring the Lambs Hill Wind Farm, ERG has embraced the responsibility of upholding all commitments to ensure that the site remains both a producer of clean energy and a trusted “Good Neighbour” to the local community.
“This means more than just providing support; it is about genuine alignment of values. For the Group, being part of this landscape means looking after it: from the new pathways at William Cassidi School to caring for the wider environment.
“ERG views the Wind Farm not just as an infrastructure, but as a “shared asset” held between the company and the community; a collaborative resource designed to foster a sustainable future where clean energy production and the preservation of rural heritage go hand in hand.”
Tom Chaplin, partnerships and community manager at OnPath Energy, adds: “The Lambs Hill Wind Farm Fund community benefits fund was designed to deliver tangible community value for local people, and it’s great to see how the school has been able to benefit from it over the years.
“The different learning opportunities that the garden offers make it a fantastic facility for the William Cassidi children to use and we hope they’ll now be getting out in the open air even more often.”
Environmental and community projects in the vicinity of the Lambs Hill Wind Farm which are interested in applying to its community fund should first contact the fund manager via apply@onpathcommunityfund.co.uk or on 0191 378 6342 to confirm that their group or project is eligible.