Special school in desperate bid for fundraising help
THE charity behind the town’s most valued special school is appealing for support.
Park Lane School, based at Macclesfield Learning Zone, on Park Lane, is a specialist school for communication and interaction, catering for children with severe disabilities.
But it is in desperate need of funding to continue to provide the best service possible to its students, and an appeal has been launched to find new volunteers to join its fundraising committee, The Friends of Park Lane School.
Helen Davies, whose seven-year-old daughter Megan is a student at the school and who is a member of the fundraising committee, is appeal ing for people to attend an open evening for potential volunteers.
She said: “We are appealing for anyone who can spare a little bit of time to support us.
“Our committee is so tiny with just five of us. We can come up with all the ideas in the world but we need people to help us see them through.”
Helen says she only became aware of the charity through her daughter, Megan, who is a pupil at the school. But said parents with healthy children, or people who would like to give back to the community, would make an immeasurable difference to the team.
She said: “Some people may question why the parents from the school aren’t doing it, but these parents are struggling with day to day life as it is.
“Their lives are so chaotic it just isn’t practical, that’s why we need people who can come in from the outside, who may not be directly affected, but who want to make a difference.
“It’s such a rewarding thing to be involved in. It’s such a fantastic school and the children are fantastic.”
She added that fundraising is vital to provide specialist equipment such as eye gazing technology, which helps student separate a computer by moving their eyes, and specially adapted school buses, which will provide vital transport for the students.
The committee - which also includes treasurer Sarah Ervine and secretary Ella Rowe - is currently running fundraising campaign to refurbish the school’s hydrotherapy pool, and is almost half way to its £100,000 target thanks to support from Beech Hall School and las year’s Macclesfield Beer Festival.
Helen hopes the open meeting at the Flowerpot pub, on Congleton Road, will help galvanise support for the school, with committee members on hand to answer questions.
The open meeting, at the Flowerpot Pub, starts at 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 15.