School gets new play area from ex-pupil's gift

A town centre primary school was able to upgrade its playground facilities after a former pupil donated money in his will.

Paul Barker, who died in May last year, had attended St Matthew's Primary School on Portman Road in Ipswich in the 1950s before he later moved to Canada.

Headteacher of the school, Kirsten Cameron, said she had promised the pupils she would upgrade the playground, but was unsure of how to fund it until Mr Barker's generous gift came along.

The school unveiled the new play area on Thursday during a ceremony, which was attended by Ipswich Town Football Club's Jens Cajuste.

"[It was] completely out of the blue," Ms Cameron said of Mr Barker's donation.

"I promised the children during my headship interview that I would improve the playground for them.

"I didn't know how I was going to pay for that, but luckily, Mr Barker, who lived in Canada, an ex-pupil, donated part of his legacy to us.

"It came with all his old school reports, which are all in our archives; it's amazing."

Ms Cameron said the new play area was "massive" for the children and was the first phase of wider plans to improve the outdoor area.

Chair of governors, Derek Ramsay, said the new area would keep the pupils entertained all year round.

"The money Mr Barker left has enabled us to build a covered space for children to use, level out the playground to make it much more accessible and create a new trim trail to keep the children active in lots of different ways, in all kinds of weather," he added.

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