Christmas comes early for St Alban’s pre-school

There was plenty to cheer on 16^th December at St Alban’s Pre School as the local MP for Macclesfield, David Rutley, formally opened the new Lottery funded playground, and attended a presentation which recognised the fundraising efforts of Inter Macc Football Club, which provided the Pre School with a new interactive whiteboard and projector.

The playground has enjoyed a significant upgrade, courtesy of a successful grant application from the National Lottery of £10,000 to the pre-school, which received an “Outstanding” rating in its most recent Ofsted report. The new facilities include an outdoor “mud kitchen”, a wooden house, interactive musical instruments and equipment for sand and water activities.

Inter Macc operated as a Junior Football Club for a ten-year period ending in May 2016, when its members turned 18-years-old and went their separate ways. Since 2011, the Club has run a very successful annual fund raising Golf Day event aimed at supporting the Football Club. Once the football team had come to a finish, the Club decided to continue the Golf Day with the objective of raising funds to support good causes, including the Pre School.

David was joined by Matt Salt and Joe Turner, former members of Inter Macc and former pupils at St Albans, to take part in a presentation, during which teaching staff and pupils were able to pass on their thanks for the Club’s work generating the funds for the new equipment.

A statement was read out on behalf of the Club, saying, “Inter Macc has always had strong links with St Albans Pre School as a large number of players attended the school. Given this, we felt we wanted to give something back to St Albans and have done this with the purchase of a Smart Board that we really hope will make a difference on a daily basis.”

David added, “It has been great to visit St Albans Pre School, and open the fantastic new playground facilities, but to also meet some members of Inter Macc, who have so kindly raised funds for the new facilities. This has been an inspiring story of a group of young men growing up in a community together and showing a collective desire to give something back to it. I would like to congratulate them for all their efforts and wish the Pre School continued success for the future.”