
Patterdale School’s outdoor adventure play area has been given a new lease of life by construction company Octavius Infrastructure.
When the play area became unusable due to the old play bark rotting away, Octavius stepped in, along with partners Metcalfe, to donate 20 tonnes of fresh play bark along with new wheelbarrows and garden tools for the pupils. In total, the donation was worth over £1,000.
A spokesman said: “The arrival of the bark was a great opportunity to get the children involved and give them a sense of ownership over their space.”
Along with their parents and school staff they spent a very busy few days spreading the bark, and not only got their play area up and running again, but also gave a makeover to the school allotment in time for their Cumbria in Bloom entry.
As an extra touch, Octavius also donated a selection of STEM books to the school, aiming to spark curiosity and encourage a love of science, technology, engineering, and maths among the young learners.
Headteacher Nicky Steels passed on a huge thank you to Octavius representative Lee Smith, saying: “We are blown away by this generous donation, it makes such a big difference to a small school like ours. The end result looks fantastic, huge thanks to Octavius for helping us out!”