River Mead Library Fundraising Appeal

River Mead School joined The Mead Trust in 2014. Based in Melksham, there are 262 children attending the school currently. Of those: ​

• 42% have Special Educational Needs / Disabilities (compared to a national average of 13%) and 20% have an Educational Health Care Plan – a document for children who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. The national average of children with an EHCP is 4% ​
• 49% qualify for free school meals. Of those, 95% have qualified for free school meals for the entirety of their time at the school ​
• 41% have had social care involvement in their life / with their families 

The school cares for its children deeply, and wants to give each of them the very best start in life. For many of the children, and for many reasons, their lives outside school are chaotic, with limited opportunities to read – either out loud, or to themselves. ​

Children need to feel rooted, calm, and loved. When they do, they achieve great things. 

Our ambition is to take a large, but sorrowful space within the school and create an oasis of calm for learners within, and beyond, our school community. A place where children can just be. A place where they can find themselves, and dream fantastic dreams. A welcoming space for children in our school, but also for local groups – such as baby weigh ins, Rhyme Time, and Lego club. ​

The room has beautiful large windows, and we want to ‘bring the outside in’. We want to create a forest-themed room, that is peaceful and inspiring. 

We are hoping to raise £18,000 to completely renovate and equip the school library for generations of children to come. We’re hoping to raise the funds in three ways: ​

1. If you’re a local tradesman or business and can offer us a discount / preferential rates, please do! We want to support local businesses, and hope they will do the same for us – you’ll find more information about the project here​
2. If you’re a high net worth individual, and would like to make a contribution to our fundraising, we would be extremely grateful. Please contact us to have a cup of tea and a chat​
3. If you found a loose coin down the back of the sofa, or have a bit of pocket money leftover, and would like to do something amazing with it, please consider donating it to us via our GoFundMe page

​We will be hugely grateful for all donations, and want to publicly recognise all contributors. Everyone who supports our fundraising will be credited on this page, and in our weekly newsletter to parents. ​

As part of the redecoration, we are going to paint a ‘Tree of Thanks’ on the wall, and every person who sends in a donation will be named on a leaf of the tree – a lasting legacy for everyone who gets involved! 

​