On a lovely sunny spring day, the children and staff at Horton Lodge Community Special School near Leek in Staffordshire received their very first Variety Sunshine Coach. This was possible thanks to the generous support of The Geoff and Fiona Squire Foundation. This is the fourth Variety Sunshine Coach to be funded by The foundation.

Horton Lodge School offers education for day pupils and also some residential places. Children at the school are aged 3 to 11 years with physical disabilities. Many children have additional learning difficulties and the school supports children with additional visual, hearing and/or speech and language difficulties and sensory needs.

The school is located in the beautiful countryside of the Staffordshire Moorlands, between Rudyard and Horton. It is situated in its own 10 acres of grounds, a mixture of well-maintained old and new buildings, dating from 1890 to the present day. It has an outdoor playground, swimming pool, and a nature garden complete with outdoor classroom, all of which are fully accessible.

The new sunshine coach will enable the children to explore the local and wider community with their peers. It will allow the children to take part in new activities in different surroundings from shopping in the local supermarket to a week-long adventure holiday in the Lake District.

“The reason that the Horton Lodge Community Special School was selected was twofold. Firstly, the children at the school have a variety of physical and learning disabilities, and the support of such children is central to the giving policy of the Foundation. Secondly, I have a connection with the area having worked in the Computing Department of Leek and Westbourne Building Society in Newton House in Leek in the early 70s”

Jane Dambach, Head of School, commented:

“We are absolutely thrilled to be in receipt of a Variety Sunshine Coach. It will enable our pupils to explore learning opportunities beyond the classroom which is invaluable to their educational and social development”.

Sara Da Silva, Chair of Variety’s Staffordshire and South Cheshire Committee said:

“The new Sunshine Coach will enable the children to explore the local and wider community with their peers. It will allow the children to take part in new activities in different surroundings, from shopping in the local supermarket, to a week-long adventure holiday in the Lake District.”

The Staffordshire and South Cheshire Committee has been raising funds and supporting Variety in the Northwest for over 16 years.