Bright look for Northumberland school thanks to parent and AkzoNobel

Staff and children at a Bedlington school are enjoying their new look surroundings.
St Bede's RC Primary students next to their newly painted fence at Nursery.St Bede's RC Primary students next to their newly painted fence at Nursery.
St Bede's RC Primary students next to their newly painted fence at Nursery.

The outdoor learning area of St Bede’s Catholic Primary School is full of colour and a lot brighter thanks to the hard work of a parent and a donation from the AkzoNobel factory in Ashington.

The school can now boast a rainbow of many hues around the fences and sheds in its grounds and the pupils were able to help choose some of the shades themselves.

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Parent Ben Heatley works at the AkzoNobel facility, which manufactures paint for their own brands, including Dulux, Hammerite and Cuprinol, and Ben donated his time to carry out the work while the company donated the paints.

St Bede's RC Primary students next to their newly painted fence at Nursery.St Bede's RC Primary students next to their newly painted fence at Nursery.
St Bede's RC Primary students next to their newly painted fence at Nursery.

“I saw the school had new fencing and thought it would be really nice to add some colours to it,” he said.

“The children thought it was great and were having fun trying to guess which colours would come next.”

Electrical engineer Ben, who has two children at the school, spent around 100 hours of his own time over seven weeks using 60 litres of paint to transform the school grounds.

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Therese Worrall, headteacher, said: “Ben used one of the Dulux slogans, ‘bringing colour to people’s lives’ as inspiration and he certainly brought colour into the school grounds and ultimately into the children’s days.

“The children and parents were engaged in conversations with him with many discussions about what the next colour might be.

"He painted in his own time, concentrating on one colour before moving on to the next and there were plenty of predictions for colours.”

Ben even fixed part of the fence and a gate before painting the nursery outdoor play shed and then moving onto the school grounds to find sheds and fencing to paint.

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Mrs Worrall added: “The work will also help add longevity to the woodwork and we are very grateful to Ben for his hard work and to AkzoNobel for the paint.”

A spokesman for AkzoNobel said: “Our company is committed to the local community and we are delighted to make a more colourful environment through the transformative power of paint.”