Marpool primary school received the kind donation of new playground play equipment last month which will generate hours of fun for years to come.

The school had to remove their last set of equipment in 2023 over health and safety concerns, with teachers reporting a lack of playground buzz since.

With a shortage of funding, it was unlikely that new apparatus would be arriving anytime soon.

Seeing this, existing partner Wales and West Utilities, a gas emergency and pipeline service, offered to support the purchase of new playground equipment.

Headteacher Liz Threfall, said: “Wales & West Utilities has been working to upgrade the gas pipes in the area for some time and, as part of its community outreach work, engineers came into school to deliver a carbon monoxide (CO) safety session to pupils. Whilst a number of CO alarms were subsequently provided which we’ve distributed to some of our priority families. It was through this that I got talking to WWU First Line Manager, Richard Beharrell, about our situation in Marpool and mentioned how not having a play area was impacting our pupils and things went from there.”

With the money, the Marpool Primary School were able to build a new play area and even add in a friendship bench.

Wales and West Utilities First Line Manager, Richard Beharrell, said: “This was a fantastic project to lead on and I am delighted that we’ve been able to transform the area in a relatively short period of time. Seeing the children’s faces now, whilst they’re able to use the play equipment, is wonderful. I hope it brings a lot of joy for a long time.”

Liz Threfall continued: “Our school budget is stretched, and we can’t ask our families for more support so, without this donation, our pupils would simply miss out. We can’t thank Richard, and the wider Wales & West Utilities team enough.”