Media Release – Farmlands Trading Society Ltd

21 March 2011

Lichfield School wins shade grant

Lichfield School pupils will be protected from the harsh summer sun as they eat their lunch thanks to a $2000 grant from Farmlands to create extra shade at the school.

The school, which has a roll of 70, is one of seven rural primary schools throughout the North Island to receive the grant for shade.

The money was raised from ten ‘Ladies Nights’ fun events held by Farmlands in rural areas late last year.

Farmlands Innovation and Communications Manager, Allister Bathgate, says the idea for shading came from one of the team at Farmlands’ head office.

“He’s involved with his local school and was aware that creating adequate shade is a real issue in rural schools. They also find it more difficult to find funding for extras because their rolls and communities are smaller.”

More than 200 schools applied for the grants. They needed to be a North Island rural school and demonstrate a need for shade. Rural Women New Zealand managed the application process.

Allister says Farmlands initially selected five schools to receive $2000 each.

“But two of our sponsors of the ‘Ladies Nights’ events, Meridan Energy and FMG, also wanted to contribute. Farmlands found a bit of extra funding, so we had a total of $14,000 to distribute to seven schools.

Lichfield School Principal, Tony Biddick, says the money will be spent on umbrellas for a newly concreted area where students eat their lunch.

“The area is really sunny in terms one and two, but a bit cold and damp in terms two and three, so we wanted shade that we could remove easily in the cooler months.

Tony says the students were “very pleasantly surprised” to win the grant. “We didn’t hold out much hope because we knew there’d be a lot of competition. They thought it was wonderful.”

Allister says the Ladies Night programme was so successful, it will be repeated this year.

“We’re hoping to exceed our fundraising target to provide grants for another yet-to-be decided project to assist deserving rural schools.”

The other schools to receive grants were: Peria School (Kaitaia), Tutira School (Hawke’s Bay), Rahotu School (Taranaki),Puahue School (Te Awamutu), Tiniroto School (Gisborne), and Mount Biggs School (Feilding).

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