A MORNINGTON school struggling to raise money for a gym is on track with building plans thanks to some entrepreneurial thinking and a generous benefactor.
Mornington Park Primary School, the only school on the peninsula without its own gym, opened an opportunity shop 12 months ago to kick-start a gym fund, which was boosted recently by an anonymous donation of $250,000.
Principal Bev Dadds said enrolment numbers were increasing and the school desperately needed somewhere to cater for sports and functions such as all-school assemblies. She said the school decided to take matters into its own hands by opening an op shop to fund the gym.
“We don’t need a huge basketball stadium but we do a special room so that we don’t have to keep going across the road to use the gym at Mornington Secondary College,” she said.
Ms Dadds said the school was “overwhelmed” by the generosity of the donations and was able to start planning the gym, which she expected to cost about $700,000.
Ms Dadds said the opportunity shop, in Robertson’s Drive, had been a “huge” success since opening because of its low prices and the variety of goods.
“We have some great donations from many interesting shops and individuals in the community, including some fabulous vintage goods that come from a collectables shop owned by one of the parents,” she said.
“There are some interesting donations and you just never know what you might find.”
In another recent act of kindness from the community, Mornington Park Primary School was able to buy a defibrillator after a Mornington business provided complimentary healthcare training some of the staff.
Mornington business and registered training organisation, Healthcare Resources for Schools, recently delivered First Aid and CPF training to 27 of the school staff, providing a saving to the school of around $2000.
Ms Dadds said the money the school had earmarked for the training was then spent on a defibrillator, which she said was an essential complement to the upgraded first aid training.
