Following Government cut backs in education, a group of seven parents from Newstead Wood School, Orpington are running a campaign to raise money to help fund the enrichment programme and rolling maintenance plan.

After running a couple of events, it became clear that they would only scratch the surface of what is required to make up the shortfall, so they spoke to another local school who have suffered similar cutbacks and have now organised a joint partnership between parents and the school.

This partnership will help to secure regular monthly contributions and hopefully go a long way to raising the £300,000 needed to bridge the gap.

Nicholas Webb, Head Teacher at Newstead Wood, said: “We are delighted to be working together with such a dedicated team of parents to ensure that we continue to provide the very best education for our students. Times are difficult for all schools, and we are incredibly lucky to have this level of support from our parents and students both past and present.”

Other ideas that have been put forward are to develop the alumni database, which could generate a wealth of experience in the business world as well as work together with large organisations in the hope of securing grants and sponsorship.

Christina Carr, one of the founder members of the charity said: "The Providing Excellence Together campaign is a parent-led initiative to raise significant additional funds for Newstead Wood School to offset the impact of cuts in Government funding and to ensure that our children continue to receive an outstanding education."

It is an enormous task and money needs to be raised now for text books and equipment. The roof needs repairing and the organisers of the campaign are appealing to parents to come forward and volunteer their skills in the hope of refurbishing parts of the building.

The parents involved are dedicated and motivated to succeed in raising this money and with support, they are hoping that this will not be an insurmountable task.