Dover Park Primary School

In their application to the Green Fund for Schools, Dover Park Primary School in Ryde said:

“Our school is situated in an area of high deprivation and we are always looking for ways to support parents and close the poverty gap for pupils and families. We want to set up a ‘donate and take’ station using recycled-plastic outdoor lockers so that parents can independently access the school uniform that gets donated to school.”

“We would also like our older pupils to feel able to help themselves independently if they need school uniform or PE kit. Every year we take black bags full of unclaimed uniform to the Tesco clothes bank and we would like to stop this wastage.”

Wightlink awarded Dover Park £1,000 for their project and the Donate & Take station is now open. It is hoped that the new facility will help people through the cost-of-living crisis and it’s thought that it’s one of the first of its kind on the Isle of Wight.

Dover Park headteacher Anita Wilcox says: “There is no doubt that because of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis, some of our families are currently finding it a struggle. This is a really simple way of offering those in need a little bit of discreet help during difficult times.”

Wightlink Chief Executive Keith Greenfield says: “We were really impressed how this Dover Park scheme encourages materials to be re-used in a way that also provides help for people in the community who may be struggling during these difficult times. This is an imaginative and compassionate project that we were happy to support.”