Please find time to read and share our fundraising ambition to provide new play equipment outdoors. If you know anyone who can help, please speak to them. Together, we can make this ambition happen. 

HELP ST LOUIS PTA PROVIDE A TRIM TRAIL FOR THE PUPILS OF ST LOUIS CATHOLIC ACADEMY
We hope this finds you well. We are writing to ask you to consider donating to our biggest
fundraising project in recent decades. We know that the generosity of benefactors means
that our children have gained greatly from kind donations in the past. We also recognise
that over the years, equipment comes to its end of life, and we need to plan ahead for the
little ones joining us in future years. We remain extremely grateful for this support, and it is
wonderful to see the community unite to support the next generation. We now need your
help to install much needed playground equipment.
Playgrounds play an essential role in fostering play and collaboration. In schools, children
often need to cooperate in a certain way to promote a healthy learning environment.
However, research supports that breaktime and play are essential factors in helping
children build cognitive and social skills. Playgrounds are essential for schools to help
foster play and community building.
The Pupils of St Louis Catholic Academy in Newmarket have limited space and most of the
space is underused due to the weather making the mud surrounding the key areas
extremely unsafe to use.
There is simply not enough space or equipment to entertain the lower ages, Lower key
Stage 2. These are the years who started their education during the lockdowns. We are
asking for your help to ensure they no longer have any delays to their development and

hence we ask for your immediate support.

We have sought opinions from parents, teachers, and pupils as to what is needed. They all
agree a trim trail with an astro underlay would be a much-needed asset to help build the
children’s wellbeing and cognitive behaviour whilst also ensuring they did so in a safe way.
We have raised £4000 for this thus far. We need an additional £10,000 to purchase this
equipment . We are working with the below funding plan. We are hoping to move as
quickly as possible so the children might be able to have it ready for Summer term.
Our current funding plan is as follows:
PTA contribution thus far: £4000
Tesco Application: £1000 but this isn’t an immediate fund
We have requests pending with: John Lewis / Waitrose Fund, Newmarket Community
Trust, Godolphin, The Jockey Club, The Bill Gredley Foundation.
Any donation or support given towards helping the PTA to purchase this equipment for the
pupils will be shared with the school community and promoted in an appropriate way.
Please contact us for any further information at friendsofstlouis2020@gmail.com or on
071368181797.
With very best wishes
Trustees of St Louis PTA

Registered Charity Number: 1124123
Why will a Trim Trail help the Pupils of St Louis?
1. Promote vigorous activity in a fun way…
One of the great benefits of trail play is that they promote vigorous physical education in a
fun and playful way – perfect for primary school playgrounds.
Each obstacle within a trail play has their own challenges and the child will need to use
different parts of their body and abilities to tackle them. Weather it’s using their arms to go
from rope-to-rope or using their balance to carefully walk across a beam, children will be
able to develop their physical and mental strength while having fun.
Did you know…. according to the World Health Organisation, children should accumulate at
least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity daily.
2. Encourages imaginative play
Due to its layout and different types of obstacles, children’s trim trails are great at
encouraging children to use their imaginations, such as for pretend play and creating their
own games.
Perhaps they’re pretending the floor is lava as they move across the obstacles without
touching the ground, or they imagine themselves being in the jungle as they traverse
bridges and avoid falling into rapid rivers by swinging from a rope!
3. Develops children’s life skills and improves mental wellbeing
Outdoor trim trails help promote social interaction and skill building. Many of the obstacles
require the child to test their gross motor skills, coordination, and upper body strength.
They also encourage children to talk to each other, collaborate and figure out the best way
to tackle each obstacle successfully, teaching children to persevere and improve problem
solving skills either by themselves or with others.
The element of challenge and the sense of achievement is also a great way to build
confidence, while exposure to the outdoors, natural surroundings and interaction with
others helps to improve mental wellbeing.
Furthermore, the physical activity gained from this type of activity can be beneficial for
children’s mental health, helping to improve self-esteem, and reduce stress and anxiety.
4. Motor planning
Motor planning is the ability of figuring out what you want to do, plan how you are going to
do it and then physically do the activity. This is developed by trial and error, learning how
their body moves, what to do differently next time and continuously repeating the task until
they can manipulate their movements and successfully complete the activity.
With an obstacle course, children must complete one part of the course before moving on
to the other. There is a beginning, middle and end, an important feature for children to
learn how to sequence, and it’s particularly important for children with autism.