How to say “thank you” loud and long enough to everyone who helped transform – metamophosize! – the shabby insides of our school on Give & Gain Day?

Make room for the teams! So many parents showed up to help that it was standing room only in the corridor.
Two commercial partners – Santander bank and Jewson – gave cash donations, and the lovely people at Chris Stevens on Holloway Road enabled us to buy a veritable ocean of paint for much less than it could have cost us.
And then, the show of goodwill and volunteer muscle on Give & Gain Day itself was nothing short of amazing. About 50 people – business volunteers from Santander, local councillor, Kat Fletcher, and many, many wonderful school parents – showed up during the day to help get the work done, and to bring cakes and other food to keep the volunteer army marching.
Our design team, Rachel and Patrick – both parents at the school – have donated extraordinary amounts of time and professional skill to make this happen. They’ve been assisted before and after Give & Gain Day by production designer Adam and a small group of apparently tireless parent volunteers. Thank you all – your commitment has been phenomenal.
Though finishing touches are still to be added, the scale of the metamorphosis is fully apparent. What a fantastic effort by the community: it feels as if we really can do anything if we do it together.
- Aga and Panico: we salute you! The brilliant Chris Stevens staff couldn’t have been more generous to their local primary school.
- Parents not only volunteered in numbers – they even looked happy to be here.
- The small-but-hardworking team from Santander really didn’t HAVE to come in school uniform.
- Have these children never seen a lawyer paint a door before?
- We all pray that Andrea likes her new desk.
- Volunteers take a well-earned lunch break.
- Thanks to everyone who provided this beautiful feast.
- After lunch, a team from Year 5 turned up to do their bit.
- While paint was drying, teams split off to move the big planters outside Ursa and Andromeda.
- And those dots got more and more interesting.
- Meanwhile, the corridor got pinker…
- …and pinker…
- …don’t leave me here alone!
- End of Give & Gain Day, and the core team were still at work.
- Architect Patrick put time in its place.
- And anyway, no project is complete until blessed by the hand of Elvis.
- It appears as if Adam doesn’t even want to leave.
- But is Rachel making a break for it?
- Ah, but it’s fabulous, even not-quite-finished…
- That’s 3:25am, by the way. Time to go home.