Parents and staff from schools on Mull and Iona teamed together to put a smile on the faces of every child and young person on the islands after a difficult year.
Led by Dervaig Primary School’s Parent Council, the group received £5,000 from the Mull Waterfall Fund to do something special for every young person in the area, from new born babies to school leavers – a total of 529 people.
Each school’s Parent Council took responsibility for their own share of the award, with young people benefitting in a range of ways, from receiving hoodies in house colours to vouchers for local shops.
This initiative sparked a connection between the schools, and together they went on to create a cookie themed poster for the local community titled ‘Sometimes even tough cookies need help’ – highlighting the help that is available to people during these challenging times.
The project has brought the schools, and their parent councils, closer together during lockdown.
But that is not where the good news ends. Dervaig Primary might be a relatively small school but it has big plans for future, especially when it comes to outdoor learning.
Since the community orchard was created on Mull four years ago, pupils have been visiting it regularly as part of their outdoor learning. Now, however, the school plans to expand on this by purchasing outdoor learning equipment for the orchard using funding that Friends of Dervaig Primary, in partnership with the Community Orchard, received from the National Lottery Fund.