Lawley pupils help builders launch new village walk

More than 60 pupils from a Lawley School joined forces with regional builders to help launch a new walk in the village while also raising hundreds of pounds for the school.

The youngsters, aged from four to six years, from Lawley Village Primary Academy combined the launch of the Lawley Way with a sponsored walk, raising more than £900 towards school equipment.

The money raised included £620 donated by the Lawley Village Developer Group (LVDG), which comprises Barratt Homes, Charles Church, David Wilson Homes, Persimmon Homes and Taylor Wimpey.

The LVDG decided to create the new Lawley Way, which is nearly a mile long, as part of their commitment to helping build a strong community in the village.

Laura Hopley, headmistress at Lawley Village Primary Academy, said: “The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the walk.

“Parents have been raising money in sponsorship to help the school buy additional equipment for ICT lessons and books for the classroom. We are hugely grateful to the LVDG for their support in running this event and by offering to match £10 per child to help boost the funds raised.

“Working with our local community is very important to us and our children and we look forward to more events with LVDG in the future.”

The circular walk takes in Birchfield Way, the Wrekin Way, Pepper Mill and Clips Moor, and includes crossing the pedestrian bridge which was only installed last year.

Angela Nurse, spokeswoman for the LVDG, who also took part in the walk, said: “Together we have built hundreds of new homes in Lawley and seen a great community develop there. Therefore, it is important to us to support residents in any way we can, and the new walk is one such way.

“We hope it will encourage people to get out and about and discover more about their village, and hopefully instil in local youngsters a love of the outdoors. The map is available on our website http://www.lawleyvillage.com/news/events/ for everyone to use.”

The launch of the Lawley Way was also supported by the Lawley and Overdale Parish Council, with Councillors Jayne Greenaway and Bill Gilmour helping to hand out commemorative medals to all the children who completed the route.

Councillor Greenaway said: “It is always a delight to support LVDG in one of their projects, as they do a lot of work in the village to promote a strong community spirit with plenty of activities that bring people together.”