Telford primary school opens food, clothing and toys hub to support families

Short Wood Primary School, in the heart of Wellington, has opened the new cabin and parents can visit at any time during the school day to access the resources.

The hub is open from 8am until 4pm and is supported by donations from the local community. It is already supporting families across Wellington and will be offering toys for parents to gift to their children at Christmas time.

It is run by staff at the school and takes donations of all kinds, from food and clothes, to toys and furniture, and the school ensures that the donations reach the families that need them the most.

The cabin was donated by supplier of portable and modular buildings Pickerings, who are supporting Midlands-developer Deeley Construction to create a new £13 million Extra Care scheme for Housing 21 on Dawley Road near to the school.

Deeley Construction also donated 1,000 flower bombs for children to plant in the meadow near the school and £250 to help refurbish the school’s library.

Staff from Deeley Construction also visited the school to speak with pupils about careers in construction, the Extra Care scheme it is building at Dawley Road and the importance of health and safety near a construction site.

Rebecca Kennedy, Assistant Headteacher at Short Wood Primary School, has thanked Deeley Construction and Pickerings for their support and says that the new hub at the school is a vital resource for the community.

“This resource is going to be absolutely invaluable for families in the coming months and the generous donation from Deeley Construction and Pickerings has enabled us to provide this support for our community,” said Rebecca.

“It all started last Christmas when we asked people to donate toys to support local families. We received hundreds of donations and from that moment could tell that people were passionate about supporting their community.

“We decided we wanted to do something more permanent and to do this we needed a cabin outside. Deeley Construction were building the Extra Care home nearby and we had already worked with them to deliver health and safety workshops to the children.

“They were able to help us out again, the cabin was delivered, placed in position, and we were able to transform it into the new community hub, which primarily supports families with food, clothes and toys.

“We get donations from all over the place and we top up the store a couple of times a week.

“Deeley also spoke to our pupils about health and safety, as we have two building sites near the school, which will help them to stay safe in the local area. The seed bombs have been launched too on the meadow and will enable us to do even more learning outside, which is already a huge part of our curriculum.”

Edward Hudson, Business Development Manager at Deeley Group, said: “We started work at Dawley Road last year and immediately reached out to Short Wood Primary School to see how we could support them.

“We have donated £250 for shelving in the library, offered a thousand flower bombs to help the nearby meadow thrive and then worked with Pickerings to get the cabin they needed to launch the community hub.

“The community hub they have created is a fantastic idea and it is clear that will have a lasting positive benefit on the local community.”