Porthleven School needs votes in Jewson competition

The school has made the shortlist in the Community Prize section of a competition run by builders' merchants Jewson.

Pupils hope to raise enough cash to build an outdoor shower block with toilets next to the multi-use games area, which could be used by pupils during after school clubs and also for local groups hiring the ground.

To help back up their bid they have made a comedy video called We Need New Loos, in which they explain their plight by refusing to use a camping toilet, commode or potty, which can be seen at  https://youtu.be/3evh2qi2pqQ

They now need people to support them with votes, by registering at buildingbettercommunities.co.uk/register and then searching for them in the community prize list.

In their competition entry, the school said: "We encourage children to get active and do more sports, introducing after school activities. At the moment we rent outside toilets but we simply don't have the funds to continue to do so. Having Jewsons support would be life changing for Porthleven School."

It added that the multi-use games area was also used by external clubs such as local football clubs, brownies, youth clubs, other schools and fitness clubs, but due to lack of toilet and shower facilities this could only happen during school hours or if toilets were rented.

"This is restricting us using and renting the facilities during weekends, summertime and the evenings. If we had an outdoor shower block and toilets it would have a huge positive impact on our pupils and school's future. We could use the rental fees to sustain it, pay for maintenance and possible expansion.

"We normally pay for our children to go camping - we live in a socially deprived area, with a high number of families living in poverty - and having these facilities means we can offer those children camping trips for free.

Other times we can charge and use the income for the school and to sustain it," added the school.