Wigan primary school receives generous donation from Home Bargains founder
Tom Morris, the founder of Home Bargains, has donated a new Sunshine Coach to a Wigan primary school
Many of the pupils at Our Lady’s RC Primary School, in Aspull, have a range of disabilities and learning difficulties, including autism, cognitive delay, and hearing impairments. The school also has a higher-than-average rate of SEND pupils.
For many of the children, school trips to places such as parks, adventure centres, and sporting competitions are the only times they get access to other environments and have new experiences.
Liverpool entrepreneur Tom Morris pledged to donate a coach at the inaugural North West PROPS in December last year.
Sunshine Coaches are fully accessible minibuses provided to schools and non-profit organisations by Variety, the Children’s Charity, who are celebrating their 75th anniversary in Great Britain this year.
Mr A. Cregan, Headteacher at Our Lady’s Primary School, said: "A huge thank you from everyone in the Our Lady's community to Home Bargains and Variety, the Children’s Charity. This will open so many doors for our children to enrich their curriculum experiences and provide opportunities in our local area that would not have been available to them previously.
“At Our Lady's, we try to provide as many exciting opportunities for our children as possible, but the cost of transport is a barrier. This bus will be vital in changing the curriculum we can deliver for our vulnerable and special educational needs children.”
Kristina Morris, from Home Bargains, said: “It was wonderful to see the children so excited about the new Sunshine Coach.
“Home Bargains are proud to sponsor a Sunshine Coach in the 75th Birthday year of Variety making such a difference to the children and the staff who can now all enjoy very special days out making great memories that will last a lifetime.”
As well as Sunshine Coaches, Variety, the Children’s Charity provides grants for wheelchairs and specialist equipment, experiences on their Variety Great Days Out, and work experience on their Access Interns programme. To find out more, please visit www.variety.org.uk.