The St Blazey special school playground getting a £2,000 boost

For the pupils at one Cornish special school, the playground is where a lot of the important stuff happens. Confidence, independence, and the simple fun of being outside together. Now it is getting a helping hand.

Persimmon Homes has donated £2,000 to Friends of Doubletrees School, the group that supports Doubletrees School in St Blazey, near St Austell. The money will go towards the school’s playground.

Where the money is going

Friends of Doubletrees School serves the 115 pupils who attend the school. The funding will help with the next phase of improvements to the playground, which the school hopes to make more accessible and engaging.

Heidi Hoskin, Headteacher at Doubletrees School, said: “We are absolutely delighted and incredibly grateful to Persimmon Homes for this generous £2,000 donation to Friends of Doubletrees School. Our playground is a very special part of school life, giving our pupils the chance to play, explore, build confidence and independence, and simply enjoy being together outdoors.

“This wonderful support will help us continue with the next phase of improvements and create an even more accessible and engaging space where our children can thrive. It means so much to know that our local community is behind our pupils and our school. A heartfelt thank you from everyone at Doubletrees.”

Wendy Hazelton from Friends of Doubletrees School added: “We cannot thank Persimmon Homes enough, for their wonderful donation, allowing us to continue going forward with the playground.”

Why the developer stepped in

The donation comes through Persimmon’s Community Champions programme, which the company says gives £700,000 to good causes across Britain each year. Other recent recipients include St Austell RFC, Home-Start Kernow and Cornwall Air Ambulance.

Jane Cartwright, Sales Director for Persimmon Homes Cornwall and West Devon, said: “As a developer seeking to bring much-needed new homes to St Austell, we felt it important to support local schools in the area, especially one that provides more specialist education.

“When Friends of Doubletrees School got in touch, it felt like a great cause to support as we wanted to contribute to upgrading and expanding the play facilities for pupils at the school.”

The St Austell homes plan

Persimmon, which describes itself as Cornwall’s biggest housebuilder, has an outline application in for up to 325 homes in St Austell. The company says 25% of them would be transferred to a housing association, and points to a local housing waiting list of more than 25,000 households. It says approval would trigger millions of pounds of infrastructure investment.

According to Persimmon, a significant part of the site would be kept for green space, including areas for ecological enhancement, separate central and country parks, provision for teenagers, and equipped, natural and accessible play areas. The developer says the scheme would link into existing public rights of way and cycleways, putting the nearby supermarket, town centre and allotments within reach.

Jane added: “We wish the children, teachers, and staff at the school the very best for the new term.”