Early Christmas gift for Barnsley school children - January 01

The festive season is in full swing and Christmas Day is just round the corner. Children everywhere may have already sent their wish lists to Father Christmas but lucky pupils at Athersley Primary School in Barnsley have had one of their wishes granted early by generous Portford Homes.

The housebuilder has recently donated £200 to the primary school to help towards providing much-needed books for the schools' library.

Portford Homes is already a familiar name in Barnsley thanks to Ingleton Mews on the edge of the town, which features a host of three ands four-bedroom homes, and as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting the communities in which it offers new homes, the house builder contacted the school when construction work first started at Ingleton Mews.

David Mackintosh, Sales and Marketing Director at Portford Homes said: "Far from being just a house builder Portford Homes is committed to creating new communities and enhancing the ones in which it builds.

"Much of our community based activity relates to children and education. In fact the school also took part in our health and safety campaign, which helps to educate youngsters about the potential dangers of playing on buildings sites, and it was following a recent visit to Ingleton Mews that we asked them to design a poster demonstrating the dangers."

After much consideration Portford Homes chose three winners from the art competition and awarded each with WHSmith vouchers. First place went to Laura Richardson aged 9 years, second place to Samantha Cleaver and third prize was awarded to Daniel Firth, also 9.

Head teacher Jane Blunt commented: ""We are thrilled to have this link with Portford Homes and look forward to a long and happy relationship with them. The donation has been a great help in updating our library and the art competition combined learning with fun and gave the children the opportunity to bring a serious message to life in a fun and informative way."

Prices at Ingleton Mews start from £172,500. To find out more about the development and the host of incentives currently on offer call Portford Homes on 01226 299815 or log onto www.portford.co.uk