Cotham School Seeks Community Support for Renewing Main Hall

Cotham School is seeking £10,000 from the local community to help it renovate its main hall, built in the 1930s.

The rest of the state secondary school is currently being completely re-developed under the government's Building Schools for the Future programme, which is seeing all Bristol's secondary schools rebuilt at a cost of £100 million. The programme, however, does not cover refurbishment of the school hall at Cotham, which is used by numerous community groups as well as hosting school assemblies, celebrations, dance classes and parents evenings.

The school has been promised £25,000 from the government for the repair work if it can raise the same amount of money itself. Parents have already pledged £15,000 and school authorities are now looking to the local community to help with the remaining £10,000, thus releasing the government grant and enabling the school to spend £50,000 on the renovations.

Head Teacher Malcolm Willis explains: "As an extended school we are very outward looking and many community partners and groups use our spaces for workshops, classes and events. The hall is showing its age and the sheer amount of use puts a massive amount of wear and tear on the fabric of the hall."

Plans for the hall include:

- installing raked, foldaway seating

- creating a multi-media sound and projection system

- fitting new lighting

- re-modelling the stage

The school - which has a specialism in performing arts - is hosting an ideas evening this Tuesday (Nov 17th) to try and generate ideas for fund raising in the wider community.

Mr Willis says he "wants to ensure that the Hall continues to be at the heart of the community."

The redevelopment work at Cotham School is due to finish at the end of 2010 and will allow student numbers to increase from 1296 to 1480.