HUNDREDS of little fingers and toes will be crossed at a Cotswold school this week when a bid is made for a major building project.

North Cerney Primary School has been stacking up support for its campaign to raise £75,000 before the end of February for a new assembly hall and kitchen space.

It was hoped that the cash would help the school to win more funding from Gloucestershire County Council to pay for the project, which will cost £150,000 in total.

To date just over £33,000 has been raised for the North Cerney Big Project, but a dedicated team of fundraisers are hopeful this figure along with a “phenomenal” amount of local support will help them to win their case for the cash.

Jenny Forde, who has two children at the school, said: “We’re going to tell them there’s a wave of local support and the Standard and Cirencester are waiting to hear what you’re going to say – and hopefully they won’t be able to turn us down.”

Jenny said that if the worst was to happen, the school would try to raise the full £150,000 and bid again for the funding pot next year.

They are also planning to come up with a wish list of equipment that they hope local businesses might donate.

This week, Cirencester company Topps Tiles offered to help by donating kitchen tiles to the project.

As a special touch, the company also offered to engrave the name of every child at the school who made a donation – big or small.

Jenny said having a new kitchen space and assembly hall was just part of a four-phase revamp, which includes plans for an outdoor amphitheatre and new modern classrooms to replace temporary huts.

“This is a thriving school but at the moment it hasn’t got a space for them all to get together. The new assembly hall will give them a chance to be more spontaneous and explore different subjects in a physical way.

“The plans that we’ve got really show to the village that we love our school and want it to be around for future generations.”

Find out more at northcerneybigproject.com

  • Donate by writing a cheque to the North Cerney Big Project, addressed to North Cerney Primary School, Dark Lane, North Cerney, Cirencester, GL7 7BZ. Or people can now donate to the project’s bank account at:

NORTH CERNEY SCHOOL BIG PROJECT

ACC NUMBER: 38152660 SORT CODE: 30-80-95

Please email Peter Knight for a Gift Aid form if you wish to reclaim the tax on your donation (This can be done after a donation has been made) at pdknight48@yahoo.co.uk