Alfriston School

Alfriston School in Beaconsfield is a state-funded day and boarding school for girls aged 11 to 18 that have a wide range of special educational needs and disabilities.

Alfriston is an inspirational school that aims to develop the confidence and self-esteem of each of their girls and build life skills that will take them beyond Alfriston into their adult lives. Focus on arts, creativity, music, drama and sport are encouraged to build that confidence as well as the usual academic grounding.

“Drama, dance, music and technology are vital to our girls as it helps develop the crucial life skills of social and expressive communication. We knew we needed help to raise the funds quickly to help complete this important project!

Having worked with Hutt & Co, we now believe the impossible is possible; I knew the project had to happen for my girls and they held our hands along the way and helped us to raise a staggering amount”

— Jinna Male, Headteacher

In 2014, the school was successful in raising funds to build their award-winning swimming pool. With this success behind her, Jinna Male, the Head, decided that it was imperative to develop a new Performing Arts Centre on site.

The school successfully raised £1.45 million from a government grant to build the Centre but needed an additional £500,000 to complete, furnish and equip the building. This was a golden opportunity to make sure the new facilities were the very best they could be to enable the girls’ talents to soar and give them a space to express themselves creatively.

In 2018, the Governors and Jinna engaged Hutt & Co to carry out a detailed Feasibility Study with the school to understand reaction to and support for the project amongst parents, the local community and grant-making bodies and to deliver a strategic fundraising plan to raise the required £500,000 to complete the project. The plan was approved by the Governing Body and work on the ‘Space to Shine’ campaign began in January 2019, raising funds from the parental body, the local community and a range of grant-making trusts and foundations.

Key to the success of the fundraising was building a Campaign Board of committed parent and community volunteers. The Campaign Board, chaired by Rob Hamilton, a fellow parent, worked tirelessly to share the story from a highly personal perspective. In turn, through a series of receptions where the girls performed, they inspired others to get involved in the campaign. Another key prong of the ‘Space to Shine’ campaign was as a comprehensive plan of applications for grants to trusts and foundations that were made throughout the campaign.

By February 2020, the school had beaten their target and raised over £700,000 to complete and equip the new Centre. We are delighted to share with you some images from this wonderful space and report that the girls are loving their new space to shine!