Win a signed Arctic Monkeys drum skin!

Aim

This prize draw is to raise much needed funds to revamp Meersbrook Bank Primary School in Sheffield's very tired and grey playground.

The First Prize

The winner of this prize draw will receive this fantastic framed piece of Arctic Monkeys gig memorabilia. 

The first prize is a frame containing:

• A drum skin from Matt Helders' drums, used on the Car tour in the summer of 2023, signed by all four members of the band.
• Alex Turner's set list for the Friday 9th June 2023 Hillsborough gig in Sheffield. This was taped to the floor of the stage in front of Alex Turner throughout the gig so is a little crumpled but is an amazing piece of memorabilia from a stunning gig (please note that we can't prove that this was Alex's set list, it doesn't have his name on it, you'll just have to take our word for it but we promise that all of these items are genuine!).
• A plectrum used by one of the members of the band on stage.

These items were donated to Friends of Meersbrook Bank Primary School by a member of the band's stage crew who worked on the recent tour. All money raised through this prize draw will be spent on improving Meersbrook Bank Primary School's playground.

The three items were framed by a local Meersbrook picture framer, Mick Coldwell (famous in the Meersbrook area as he's also the primary school's lollipop man!).

Please note that the prizes are not being kept at the school and the school office will not be able to assist with any questions about this prize draw.

The runner up prizes

We now also have some amazing runner up prizes - a one of a kind official tour poster for each of the Sheffield gig dates, both signed by the artist - Alex Szabo-Haslam!

The incredibly talented local Sheffield artist Alex Szabo-Haslam designed the official tour posters for the band’s 2023 homecoming shows on Friday 09/06/22 and Saturday 10/06/23 in Sheffield. The prints of these posters sold out at the gigs, but the artist has very kindly donated two A1 sized proofs - one for each of the gigs - to our prize draw. These are one of a kind proofs and won't be reprinted. They are each signed by Alex Szabo-Haslam and embossed with his stamp.

Runner up prize number 1: Official tour poster proof for the 09/06/23 Hillsborough gig in gold.

Runner up prize number 2: Official tour poster proof for the 10/06/23 Hillsborough gig in silver.

You can check out more of Alex's stunning work on his website: https://www.szabohaslam.co.uk/shop

The draw

The prize draw will close on Monday 11th December and winners of first, second and third prizes will be chosen using a random name picker within 48 hours of the closing date. We are aiming to livestream the selection of the winners on our facebook page and will send out more details about this to all entrants closer to the time. You can also enter this prize draw for free by post (see address to the right, or in the terms and conditions). 

We will contact the winners within 24 hours of the draw taking place and arrange delivery to them. We can only post the prize to UK addresses.

The Cause

All of the funds donated through this prize draw will go to our campaign to completely revamp the very tired and uninspiring playground at Meersbrook Bank Primary School in Sheffield.

Friends of Meersbrook Bank School, along with the school children, teachers and staff have been working hard over the last few years to raise funds for playground improvements. But however many raffle tickets and rice crispy cakes we sell, our efforts are barely scratching the surface at the amount of money we need to raise to make this a reality.

The playground is currently very bare, almost entirely tarmac and a big chunk of it is on a fairly steep hill, which limits its use as a play area (and makes ball games a little one-sided!). The top yard, which is used for the nursery and reception children is extremely slippy and the cause of frequent accidents.  When it rains heavily (a not unheard of occurrence in Sheffield) the water runs down the hill and floods the bottom yard, making it unsafe to play in.

Even in dry weather, the playground is very bare and lacking in natural areas. We get the occasional curious pigeon visitor but it's definitely not the haven for wildlife that the children would love to see. There is very little play equipment and the equipment that is there is very old and needs to be replaced.

Through landscaping and implementing more sustainable drainage solutions in the playground, we can make it more safe and pleasant for the children, as well as supporting local wildlife by introducing eco-areas that bring some nature into a previously concrete space.

As well as making the space more green and environmentally friendly, we would love to install a range of play equipment to make breaks more fun for the children and to set up sensory areas for those that need a quieter space.

Our playground to do list:

• We want to buy a range of fun play equipment for the playground to encourage the children to enjoy time outdoors and give them a proper break from their school work. 
• The school's eco council (made up of children from the school) have started work on an outdoor classroom / eco-garden and they need funds to make this a green and inviting space where children can learn about nature and help it to grow. 
• We want to create different spaces in the playground so that every child feels that they have a space to enjoy themselves, whether that is running around after a football or sitting in a quiet corner planting seeds.
• But before we can even start to look at play equipment, we need to resurface the playground and reduce flooding in wet weather.

It will be a lot of work to turn it into the fun, inspiring and more wildlife-friendly space that we'd like to see for the children. To make it happen we need to raise a fairly daunting amount of money, which almost feels impossible for a small school like ours.

We can't do this alone and we're asking for your help. Every entry to this prize draw provides a donation towards creating the more natural, fun and safe playground that the children need and deserve. 

Thank you for your support and good luck in the draw!

This project successfully funded on 11th December 2023