Big Bounce for school roof repair

A BOUNCY castle event will be held to raise money for Peppard Primary School roof renovations.

The Big Bounce will be held on Saturday, June 17 in the school fields where there will be 17 bouncy castles, an inflatable obstacle course, face painting and live music.

Jenny Nunes and Lottie Eary, who are parents of reception class pupils, are organising the fundraiser, which will also have a bar, barbecue and ice cream.

Mrs Nunes said that executive headteacher Nick Steele had said in October that the school needed to raise money to fix the roof.

She said: “Lottie and I are both new to the school and are coming with a new kind of energy.

“We got our heads together and decided to do a big event because often with smaller ones you don’t end up raising that much money and it snowballed from there.”

Entry is £10 per bouncer, £2 per adult and free for under-twos.

The parents are hoping to raise around £15,000, which would be enough to fix the roof.

Mrs Nunes, who has three boys, Matti, Ollie, and Arthur, said: “Everything is nearly there.

“We have some really nice sponsors, such as Henley Gelato, which is donating all the money it raises, as well as Bounce ‘N’ Fun, which is letting us have the castles for only £30 each.

“We are now looking for helpers because we need people to man the bouncy castles, the stalls and car park.”

Mrs Nunes believes that preserving village primary schools is important for the community.

She said: “Keeping the school running is a constant battle because the funding is so small.

“It is a really small school, with around 100 pupils, and funding is provided per head.

“They are even sharing a headmaster with another village school. We are trying to do what we can to keep the school going.”

Mr Steele, who has been headteacher for 10 years, became the executive head of the school and Stoke Row primary in February.

The decision to have one head for both schools was recommended by the Department for Education after Stoke Row primary headteacher Charlotte Whittle resigned last year.

The head of Peppard primary is now Sarah Watkins.