Youngsters at a Carlisle school are enjoying a new addition to their playground – after a two-year Covid-enforced wait.
Newtown Primary School now have their own outdoor gym, which Year 6 pupils have called ‘epic’.
The school raised the money for the equipment two years ago, but the children have had to wait for restrictions to fully ease before they’ve finally been allowed to use it.
Donna Lund, Newtown Road school’s Family Learning Mentor, said: “Back in 2020, we entered the CFM Cash for Kids Sports Challenge, where we had four weeks to raise as much money as we could.
“We came up with the idea of an outdoor gym as Key Stage 1 had an amazing climbing frame, but Key Stage 2 had a large, concreted area, and a field, so lots of space but nothing in it!
“We asked the children if this was something they would like and they were very excited, and we started fundraising.”
The campaign included over 6 fundraising activities from a sponsored walk to a non-uniform day and donations were also made by local businesses.
The school raised £4,072, coming as runners up in the challenge, and received an additional £1,000 from Cash for Kids.
Donna added: “Unfortunately Covid hit and everything was put on hold. When all restrictions were lifted, we eventually got a date in the calendar to get it fitted. The children were very excited to see the workmen putting the equipment in and have been looking forward to using it at long last.”
Youngsters from Year 6, who will be leaving for secondary school in a few weeks, were quick to give the kit a thumbs up – also describing it as ‘great for exercise’.
The ribbon on the equipment was cut by Cash for Kids’ Charity Executive Sara Oldham, who said: “It’s an honour to be here and see the children make use of this outdoor equipment. We’re proud to work with and support schools like Newtown. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces is a fantastic reward.”
