Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage today visited Bay House School to celebrate the award of long awaited funding for a new sports hall.
Caroline has worked closely alongside the school, parents and local residents to overturn the Education Funding Agency's original decision not to provide a grant for the new facility. After a tough campaign, hearing that work on a new facility will soon be underway comes as a welcome relief to Bay House staff, pupils and parents.
Speaking on behalf of the school, head teacher, Ian Potter, said:
"We are absolutely delighted that the School's new sports hall is coming to fruition because of a £2.5 million grant from the Government. It is a really exciting prospect to be able to offer our pupils and members of the community the opportunity to use high quality sporting facilities.
Our thanks go to all who made a contribution to making this happen, including Mr Allen (parent), local MP Caroline Dinenage, and our own Mr Pay (Estates Manager). We would also like to express our appreciation to neighbours of the School for their ongoing support."
Building on Mr Potter's comments, Caroline said:
"I was more than happy to help Bay House School get a resolution to the problem it faced in getting funding. It was a real combined effort and we were able to muster up plenty of support from local residents – I'm sure they will all be pleased with the positive news.
I am thrilled that the path is now clear for a state of the art facility which will not only bring enormous benefits to the school and its students but also to the wider Gosport community. "
The old 1960s Sports Hall has now been demolished and it is expected that work on the new facility will begin next month for completion in September 2014.
