North West schools receive thousands of pounds from build to rent provider

Five schools in the North West are benefiting from a range of school upgrades and new equipment after receiving generous financial donations from Sigma on behalf of their private rental brand, Simple Life and The PRS REIT plc. The schools across Greater Manchester and Merseyside have collectively received a total £34,000 over the last academic year.

Leading provider of new build family homes for the private rental sector, Sigma, regularly makes generous monetary donations to schools near to its Simple Life developments as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.

Mills Hill school in Chadderton sits close to the Simple Life Baytree Lane development, and has so far been gifted £13,000, £8,000 of which was spent on improved playground equipment in 2018 and a further £5,000 has been given to the school this year for the creation of a ‘daily mile’ race track around the school.

Salford schools River View Primary which is close to Simple Life’s new Empyrean apartments site, and Mesne Lea Primary in Walkden, which is a short distance from Simple Life’s Reynolds Place, have also both received cash injections. River View has used the £5,000 donation to regenerate the school pond area, allowing for new lessons in nature, it also received an £8,000 donation in 2018 for a reading greenhouse. Mesne Lea has renovated the playground area, complete with a trim-trail with the £8,000 it received this year.

Elsewhere, St Richard’s Roman Catholic School in Manchester received an £8,000 donation which it used for fitness equipment for the children. The school is close to the Hamilton Square development. St Peter and Pauls RCP in Merseyside, close to Simple Life’s Highfield Green and Highfield Place developments, also recently received £8,000 and spent it on outdoor sheltered area for play and literature during playtimes.

Vicky Hurcomb at Simple Life said: “Now more than ever we want to be able to give back to the community and these school donations help to not only improve the school environment and equipment but they have and will enhance the lives of the pupils.

“Community is at the heart of all of our developments and this is just a small gesture from us which we hope makes a big difference.”

Ian Mason, Head Teacher at Mills Hill Primary School commented on what receiving the money meant to them: “The children’s daily walks around the playground eventually developed into them running three times a week and it’s brilliant to see that fitness levels have improved, which wouldn’t have been possible without this donation.

“We encourage our children to be both active physically and to be creative with their environment. The money from Simple Life has transformed our playground and facilities and allowed our pupils to reap the benefits by keeping fit.”

Over the last two years Sigma has donated £74,000 to 10 schools across the country. In addition to their support for local primary schools, Sigma also supports local foodbanks including The Big Help Project in Knowsley and Atherton and Leigh Foodbank. The property company has also recently donated £100,000 across 4 key UK charities: Mind, Trussell Trust, Women’s Aid and Centrepoint.

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