As always, the Friends of Litcham Primary School have continued to raise funds for the school. Events over the last year have included the school discos, Summer Fete, Christmas Fayre and Beetle Drives. In addition this year we held a Fashion Show, which proved to be very successful and held a joint Bingo Night with L.A.L.G.A., which was also very successful.

The Friends have also managed to secure a grant of £10,000 from the Foyle Foundation to furnish the new library extension. This money has enabled us to install an interactive whiteboard, buy all the required shelving, tables and chairs, a new computer and will cover the cost of some new books. The children were all able to choose a new book each from the Book Club to go into our new library. The Foyle Foundation’s generosity has enabled us to complete a project which would have taken at least a couple of years for us to do by ourselves.

This year has also seen the ‘retirement’ of Sadie Bailey as our chair. Her enthusiasm, commitment and energy have all contributed to many successful events for over 10 years and the Friends, along with staff, parents and governors are indebted to her for all her hard work. We are therefore looking for a new chair for the Friends, but Sadie is a very hard act to follow!

The Friends are also looking at changes in the way that we fundraise. We are holding a joint venture with the Children’s Centre and Litcham Childcare, which is our Summer Fete on 4th July 2008. We are hopeful that this joining of forces will be successful and enable us all to raise so much more money for our funds in the future. The success of this event may well determine exactly how we all proceed in the years to come, as fundraising gets ever more difficult.
Sharon Chandler.