OVERJOYED members of a big school project in North Cerney have just received a cheque of almost £1,000 from one charitable Cirencester company.

Dobbies Garden World in Cirencester chose The Big Project at North Cerney School as their charity for 2013.

Over the year the garden centre, based near Siddington, held special events and fairs to raise money for the school charity while also leaving collection tins by the tills.

Earlier this week the centre presented Big Project committee members with a cheque for £992.

"We are absolutely delighted," said project member Jenny Forde. "Every single penny counts."

The North Cerney School Big Project was set up in early 2013 to build the school a new assembly space. The project has already managed to raise £150,000, after being awarded a grant of £110,000 from Gloucestershire County Council's Local Education Authority (LEA).

"As the building is so old it can be expensive to renovate," added Jenny. "We can't believe how much has been raised through Dobbies."

Dobbies Community Champion Annabel Lewis said: "We chose the Big Project as our charity for 2013 because they seemed obviously dedicated.

"Their application was well thought out and well filled in. You can sense their enthusiasm and just want to support them."

The money raised will go towards finalising the assembly hall build, ready for Christmas 2014, as well as a brand new food technology room and kitchen.

The Big Project was also recently chosen for the Waitrose green token scheme in Cirencester which managed to raise £251 for the school.

Visit northcerneybigproject.com for more.