Multi-Use Games Area and After-School Sports Clubs

Aim

Launching of the Multi-Use Games Area for improved PE provision and subsidised after-school sports clubs and holiday camps.

Who are we?

We are Friends of Trinity St Mary's CE Primary School - a charity set up in 2021 to raise funds for improvement projects for the primary school (age 4-11) and advance the education of the pupils. Our first project is to renovate the upper-school playground including the installation of a Multi-Use Games Area. This will dramatically improve the PE provision as well as allow for subsidised after-school sports clubs and holiday camps.

The School

Trinity St Mary's has been part of the community for over 150 years and has served Balham’s children throughout those years. We are a small one-form entry school and have created a safe, warm and friendly atmosphere where children flourish and grow. Our aim is that every child develops a love of learning, as well as leaving our school with the best results possible. 

Our values are 'Kindness, Unity and Courage' and our focus on creative and cross curricular learning is why our children develop a love of learning and why they achieve such amazing results.

Community Impact

We are in a privileged position of having a large amount of safe outdoor space in the heart of Balham - 2 minutes walk from the tube and overground station. Our pupils have benefitted from this but a Multi-Use Games Area installed in the upper-school playground will allow the school to offer this space to other children in the local area and partner with third-party coaches and other schools to offer high-quality sports coaching in affordable after-school, weekend and holiday clubs. 

Our Aims

Equal access to sporting facilities and coaching is the focus for this project in order to improve overall health and wellbeing. With an on-site MUGA, the PE provision at the school will be dramatically improved. Being able to promote the use of the MUGA to external coaches, clubs and schools will help to build more community ties and promote social diversity and inclusion. The school will work with third-party providers who can offer subsidised coaching for pupils of Trinity St Mary's (TSM) in return for discounted rental fees for the space. In addition to this, once the building costs of the MUGA have been covered, TSM can fund places on holiday camps / clubs with MUGA rental revenue.

"Participating in organised sports and joining after school clubs can help to improve primary school children’s academic performance and social skills." 

Research by the Nuffield Foundation goes on to say that children taking part in organised sports and physical activities at the ages of 5, 7 and 11 were almost one and a half times more likely to reach a higher than expected level in their Key Stage 2 (KS2) maths test at age 11.

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games Legacy

TSM is currently a "Bronze Award" holder for the School Games Mark. The awards cover Participation, Competition, Workforce, and Clubs and, with the opening of the MUGA and the opportunities for further community cooperation and increased PE provision at the school, the school aims to achieve “Gold Award” status by the end of 2023. This would be the perfect legacy from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games as the school would be able to show a direct link between the Places & Spaces Sport England grant and the social impact it will have on the children at TSM and the local community.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Playcubed (our chosen supplier for the MUGA installation) provide and install high-quality, safe and durable playgrounds but it comes at a cost. The total project - including the levelling and resurfacing of the playground, the installation of the MUGA / fencing and the painting of lines for netball, basketball, tennis, football and softball comes in at nearly £60,000. We believe that the investment will be worth it for the current and future pupils of TSM as well as the opportunities it will bring for the wider community. Most of the money we have raised so far has come from that community - showing local support for the project - but we need to raise more in order to cover the building costs and fund after-school and holiday camps using the space.

Schools budgets are shrinking while the cost of living is skyrocketing and as school, we are unable to fund the project without intervention and your support.

We have been actively reaching out to Sport England and working with the Wandsworth Grant Fund as well as other local funders.  The school has also supported this project however we cannot achieve the funding levels required to complete the project without partners and community stakeholders.

Crowdfunding support will then act as a catalyst to raise further funding to support match funding opportunities. 

What will be the impact of the renovation of the new playground and the installation of the MUGA?

Outputs: 

• Increased number of specialised PE lessons within school hours
• Increased number of other lessons held outside 
• Partnerships with sports associations to offer after-school, weekend and holiday sports clubs
• Subsidised places for children at after-school and holiday clubs
• Increased usage by other children in the community

Outcomes:

• Improved fitness, health and wellbeing for current pupils
• Improved PE and after-school club offerings 
• Increased class size in the Upper School
• Increased cooperation with external coaches, clubs and local schools
• Improved KS2 results 

Ultimate Goal:

• Every child develops a love of learning, as well as leaving TSM with the best results possible.  

How you can play your part?

Firstly, thank you for reading our story! There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us. The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Create a fundraiser of your own. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored run, activity or similar, use the 'fundraise for us' button on this page. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

4. Rewards. Head over to the rewards section to see what's on offer and contact us if you can add to our list.

To contact us press the "Contact the project" button at the top right of the page.

This project successfully funded on 5th April 2023