Bid to '˜bag' votes for sensory gym

Ten-year-old pupil Scarlett Chadderton is hoping people will help the schools mission to gain a grant from Tesco

Woodlands School on Whitegate Drive, which teaches pupils with learning difficulties, has been shortlisted for a grant from the Tesco Bags of Help grant scheme.

The money will be used to create a sensory outdoor gym which will help youngsters use their muscles to calm down their sensory levels.

Grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 are up for grabs, all raised from the 5p bag charge, but the amount the school receives is dependent on the number of votes it gets from the public.

Woodlands headteacher Cole Andrew said: “We already have a trampoline but we really want to add to that with other equipment such as see-saws and skiing-type machines which helps linear movement.

“The gym will help pupils to use their muscles in a certain way which calms down their senses.It will improve the quality of life for children with severe learning difficulties.”

Many of the pupils do not have gardens or outdoor spaces at home and so the opportunity of having an outdoor area at school is seen as vital to their development.

Nationally there is more than £12.5m available in grants through the scheme.

Tesco received close to 3,000 applications for funding and were able to award grants to around 1,300 projects.

Shoppers can vote from today until Wednesday November 9 by visiting a Tesco store.The project with the highest number of votes across the region will receive £12,000, the second placed project £10,000 and the third placed project £8,000.

To find out more about the Bags of Help scheme go to www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.