Schools are celebrating after winning big in our Sports for Schools competition.
This year’s project was bigger and better than ever, with more than 125 schools across Suffolk and north Essex registering to take part.
More than 25,000 pupils accepted the challenge, collecting 174,293 tokens between them for a chance to win thousands in sports equipment vouchers.
Orford Primary School won the first prize of £5,000, Elmsett Church of England VC Primary School claimed the second prize of £3,000 with a third prize of £2,000 going to Chilton Primary School in Stowmarket.
Another 70 schools across the region will receive a sports pack worth over £60 which will be delivered at the start of the autumn term.
Linda Scarce, officer manager at Orford Primary School, said: “It means a huge amount to the school – it’s absolutely amazing.
“It is a vast amount for any small school to receive.
“We have so many plans with what to do with it.”
Mrs Scarce said because the school will be able to use the money to pay for sports equipment, it could free up its budget for other projects.
She said: “We ideally would want to put some money into a deposit on a mini bus.
“We have also just started up a forest school and have an area that is in need of equipment.
“The school would like to show how much we appreciate the support we have been given, not only by people in Orford but in the surrounding villages as well.
“Without their support we wouldn’t have been able to do it.
“There is huge excitement among the children.
“They were thrilled and were asking ‘what can we spend it on’.
“We are absolutely overwhelmed.”
Ben Henning, headteacher at Chilton Primary in Stowmarket said the school were currently discussing the ways to use the prize.
He said:“The children were very excited. They came up with about a million ways to spend it in a matter of minutes.
“I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who collected for us.
“We had a lot of people who popped into school with the tickets.
“It is great that we have such local support
“We are very grateful.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here