A primary school in the Western Isles has received a £25,000 funding boost to help pupils from disadvantaged families enjoy trips with their classmates.
Sgoil an Rubha will receive £5,000 for the next five years from the Point and Sandwick Trust to help cover the costs of its annual P7 trip, which this year took place at Fairbairn Activity Centre in Muir of Ord.
The grant means some families will receive a partial refund from their recent trip, which was held earlier this month and incorporated a range of outdoor activities including paintball, mountain biking, aerial runway and raft building.
Principal teacher, Anne Macphail, said it was fantastic to be able to give the parents some of their money back – and that the annual grant would be a massive help in the future.
She said: “We do still want the parents to make a contribution and we will still be fundraising for the trip.
“But this grant will take a lot of pressure off the bills that we have to pay, and parents will be asked to contribute a lot less.”
Donald John MacSween, general manager of Point and Sandwick Trust, said: “This grant is to boost social inclusion because there could be an issue with some parents struggling with the costs of these trips, especially one-parent families or parents with several children.
“This is designed to level it all out and make it much cheaper for them.
