October 2017
The children of First Class Kids nursery in Calthwaite can play outdoors safely thanks to a donation from award-winning housebuilder Story Homes.
The Calthwaite nursery has purchased new fire-proof tarpaulin for use during its ‘Forest Schools’ lessons and installed a new back door as a result of funding from Story Homes’ community support scheme, ‘Future Story.’
First Class Kids is a not-for-profit charity, managed by a group of voluntary trustees based in the old village post office. The children take part in Forest Schools which encourages them to participate in engaging and inspiring activities outdoors.
Jo Gash, Manager for First Class Kids, said: “We are so grateful to Story Homes for their support. We are forever fundraising and such generous donations like this are much needed. The children love the forest schools classes and we get them out in all weathers.”
Forest Schools gives the children the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and co-operate with others.
Ian Storey, Managing Director for Story Homes in Cumbria and south Scotland, said: “We want to play an active part in our local community.
“The homes we build are part of wider communities, so helping charities and groups is extremely important to us and our Future Story programme gives us the tools to achieve this. We try to support in ways that add long term value, and we are proud of our role in building sustainable communities.
“One of our focus areas is to help improve community facilities, so to be able to help a local charity to get children playing outside is a pleasure.”
Story Homes supports many community projects and prides itself on helping out in the local community. ‘Future Story’ is its company-wide scheme designed to support sponsorship or donation requests from local charities and community organisations that surround its developments. The developer accepts applications via the website all year round, with a committee in each region reviewing submissions on a quarterly basis.
