Former pupil in £10k gift to old school

A businessman has donated £10,000 to the primary school he attended 50 years ago after deciding he wanted to “give something back” to the community.

Gareth Crees, 60, attended Fochriw Primary School in Bargoed between 1962 and 1969 and said he had “fond memories” of his education.

He said: “It was a typical village schoool where everyone knew each other. Most of our parents were colliers so we all had a lot in common – we were not wealthy children.”

Now Gareth is a successful businessman after setting up his own company, Kaymac Marine & Civil Engineering, which works on marine programmes and construction at sea.

And after hearing from his daughter, who is a primary school teacher, about the struggle for funding in education, he decided he wanted to do something to help.

Gareth said: “Everytime we go up to visit my father in Bargoed, my daughter is a primary school teacher and she tells me schools are underfunded. I just felt I should give something back to the school. The school said they had projects which they were short of funds for, so I gave them £10,000 .”

And when Gareth went to the school to donate the cheque in person, he had quite a shock. He said: “The children were an absolute delight to see. And, even though I attended 50 years ago, we all had links with each other. I noticed the surname of one of the girls showing me around and realised I was in the same class as her uncle!”

Headteacher of Fochriw Primary School Sharon Pascoe said: “It’s wonderful to see a past pupil go on to achieve great things in their professional careers and it is very touching that Gareth has chosen to support his old school in this way.”