Information on Loughborough

Eastfield's sponsored Watermead walk

Posted on 23/09/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Highways, Transportation & Waste Management

23 September 2009

Eastfield's sponsored Watermead walk *** Photo Opportunity ***

Pupils from Eastfield Primary School in Thurmaston are venturing out of their classrooms on Thursday to take part in a sponsored walk to Watermead Country Park.

All 220 pupils and their parents or carers are being offered the opportunity to walk en masse from the school, across the new Thurmaston Lock Bridge and into the park for a picnic lunch.  The children will be joined on the walk by County Councillor Ernie White.

As well as raising money for the charity LEPRA  (which helps developing countries) and school funds for outdoor learning, the event is a valuable opportunity for the children and adults taking part to see the recent developments that have taken place in the park.

Improvements in Watermead are part of the £1.4 million Sustrans Connect2 project which won a share of a £50 million Big Lottery Fund grant in December 2007 in a public vote.

Bill Griffiths, head teacher at Eastfield School, said: ”We actively encourage this kind of activity in our school. It promotes outdoor learning and also creates an informal forum for the children and adults to spend time talking to each other.

We are keen to see some of the changes in the park, as we have been keen supporters of the Connect2 project since its early days.”

Ernie White, Cabinet Lead Member for Better Places, said: “It is great that Eastfield Primary School is actively taking an interest in, and making the most of, Watermead Park which is an excellent facility right on its doorstep.

The new paths and bridges in the park will encourage the school children and other local residents to get out and explore the park by foot or by bike.”

For more information on the developments at Watermead Park, visit www.leics.gov.uk/connect2.

For information on LEPRA, visit: www.lepra.org.uk

Photo Opportunities:

Ernie White will meet and sponsor pupils from the school before they set off at 11:30am on Thursday, 24th September.

School location: Eastfield Road, Off Highway Road, Thurmaston, Leicester. LE4 8FP

Pupils, teachers and other adults on the sponsored walk will arrive at Watermead Park at 12.15pm on Thursday, 24th September.

Picnic location: Grass area opposite King Lear’s Lake car park, close to lake and toilet blocks (nearest postcode for Sat Nav is LE7 1PD).

Notes:

LEPRA's work covers an estimated 300 million people in some of the world's most deprived countries. Building on more than 80 years of experience, we now address not only leprosy prevention and treatment, but also other diseases of poverty including TB, HIV and malaria.