The generous support of the Somerset Masons has helped the Mendip School get several more tiles closer to their target of £1.6 million for constructing a pool. The school has been fundraising over the last three years and is aiming to begin construction in 2023. The pool will be used to support the students with special needs and disabilities as well as offering the community a wonderful new teaching pool.
The Lodge Uno Corde and Mason’s local to the school have built a relationship with the school over the last year, and are working to support the appeal throughout the Province of Somerset. Tim Adams from the Masons of Lodge Uno Corde said, “It is an integral part of our Provincial and local Lodges to support and donate to local charities. The Mendip School is a natural choice for us as it supports and nurtures young people from our region and provides an innovative and exciting education. We are excited to see the pool being built and look forward to continuing our support and visiting the pool when it opens.”
Natalie Hanna, Headteacher at The Mendip School, said, “It is wonderful to have the support of Lodge Uno Corde. To be presented with such a huge sum along with a lovely lunch and the support of the wider Masonic Network is amazing for the school. We have had fantastic support from the local community and from local and National grants and trusts, but we now need to push for the final amount in order to have everything in place to complete the pool. We are so grateful to all the Masons for choosing our school pool appeal to fund.”
The Mendip School supports 152 young people aged 4-19 with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and autism (ASD). It provides a varied curriculum based around developing the life skills of the young people to prepare for life beyond school. Many young people move to supported employment, further training and are able to live independently. The school supports young people from Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and South Gloucester.
When the school was built in 2015 there was no funding in place for a pool and so currently students have to travel long distances, only getting swimming once a year. Using a community pool can make students highly anxious and taking students off site to swimming takes a huge number of staff off site. The new pool will enable students to swim weekly, reducing anxiety and increasing skills, it will also give the community a fantastic new resource for local schools and groups to swim and take part in water-based therapies.
If you would like to support The Mendip School Pool in any way please contact Lucy Beattie email hidden; JavaScript is required.