School opens sensory room thanks to pub

The Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham, south-west London, helped the Clarendon School to build a room with interactive lighting and projectors.

Primary and secondary school age pupils with moderate learning difficulties and additional complex needs will be helped with their motor skills and engagement.

The space – called The Sensory Patch – also contains resources to help children with literacy and numeracy skills.

The pub raised the money by participating in the Cabbage Patch 10, a 10-mile race through Twickenham, Richmond and Kingston.

In the race’s first year, in 1982, just £30 was raised for the school but the total amount raised for the school now totals £150,000.

Extremely proud

Pub manager Stuart Green said: “This year, we reached £15,000 and we are extremely proud to have been able to raise this for a school we hold very dear to our hearts.

“We have always championed, campaigned and raised awareness and funds for Clarendon School, and it was always our aim to do something big for them once we raised enough money. 

Green added: “We were originally going to buy the school a minibus, but they were in desperate need of a sensory room, which once built, would be far more beneficial for the development of some the pupils.

“Witnessing the official opening of The Sensory Patch was one of the most humbling experiences of my career. It was so lovely to see the difference that you can make. I know it will help so many of these kids to develop, and that does bring a tear to your eye.”

Ongoing partnership

Clarendon School headteacher John Kipps said he was very grateful to the pub and the decades-long relationship it had with the school.

Kipps said: “We are enormously grateful to the Cabbage Patch. Our new sensory room, designed specifically for our secondary pupils with input from therapists and other specialists, will enable us to give our pupils excellent sensory experiences and to develop their skills in this area.

“The school has had an ongoing partnership with the Cabbage Patch, and with the organisers of the Cabbage Patch 10, for more than 30 years and have received many generous donations over that time. 

“These have allowed us to continue to offer a broad, rich and varied range of activities for our pupils, and to ensure that these vulnerable pupils can access the facilities and opportunities they deserve, beyond the classroom.”