Gesher raises £2.24m in just 36 hours for new school
The SEN school will use the impressive sum to modernise a new school building in Pinner with state of the art facilities for pupils.
Special needs school Gesher raised a stunning £2.24m this week to renovate their new site into a building with state-of-the-art SEN facilities.
The school, established in 2017 by co-founders Ali Durban and Sarah Sultman, currently educates 40 children with SEN at its site in Willesden, but in September will move to the old Moriah Primary site in Pinner.
The school launched its ‘Big Build’ campaign on Sunday, and managed to raise a colossal £2.24m in just 36 hours.
“Everybody has got really behind us, it’s been quite amazing,” said co-founder Sarah Sultman.
“It’s all been very close to the wire, because the contractors were starting on the building today. Now we’ve had this fundraiser we can do so much more on our list.”
Money raised will go towards an expansion of the school and extensive modernisation of the new site, with provision for occupational therapy and sensory rooms.
“We were offered the most wonderful opportunity with this new site at Moriah in Pinner,” explained fellow co-founder Ali Durban.
“But it is a 30-year old school, built for primary age children in the 1990s, who are neuro-typical. We have to adapt, modernise and upscale this building so that it is appropriate for secondary age pupils and children with special educational needs.”
The campaign attracted hefty donations, and was also endorsed by celebs such as Jimmy Carr and Jamie Redknapp.
With the new building, Gesher will now be able to grow to 56 pupils in its primary cohort and a Year 7 cohort which will start in September. Eventually it will be able to grow to as many as 120 pupils age five to sixteen.
The school, which is rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, is in the top three percent of special needs schools in the UK.
To see the campaign, visit: https://www.charityextra.com/gesherschool/33513
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
