Barratt Developments donates £25,000 to Henshaws College

Henshaws Specialist College has received a £25,000 donation from local housebuilder, Barratt Developments Yorkshire East, which will fund the creation of a new outdoor classroom to support their Forest School.

The college, which provides education, learning and care for young people aged 18 to 25 years with a wide range of disabilities and complex needs, is adding a brand new outdoor classroom to its forest school which will enable students to develop skills using the natural environment. Once built, the new classroom will provide an excellent way of encouraging an active lifestyle through outdoor learning. Natural resources are used in forest schools to promote investigation, imagination, and creativity with activities such as shelter building, bug hunts and climbing.

Henshaws College aims to increase independence by empowering disabled people to go beyond expectations and achieve their ambitions, whilst also providing a supportive community. Henshaws is a charity that has been helping people living with sight loss and a range of other disabilities for over 180 years. Down the road from Harrogate College in Knaresborough, Henshaws has its inspiring Arts & Crafts Centre with a wonderful shop, café and woodland walk which the whole community enjoy on weekdays all year round.

Gemma Young, Fundraising Development Manager at Henshaws Specialist College for Yorkshire, commented: “We’re so grateful to Barratt Developments for their generous £25,000 donation in support of our college. The addition of a new outdoor classroom to our forest school will really help our students to develop new learning opportunities in a change in scenery, whilst also broadening their knowledge and understanding of the natural world. We look forward to working with Barratt Developments in bringing this to life!”

Daniel Smith, Managing Director at Barratt Developments Yorkshire East added: “We’re extremely passionate about supporting the communities in which we build, and our donation to Henshaws Specialist College is a wonderful way for us to support incredible organisations within the local area. Henshaws offers fantastic support to young people living with sight loss and other disabilities, as well as building a community that is accepting and supportive. We hope that our forest school donation makes a positive impact in students’ education and life at Henshaws and we look forward to working closely with them over the coming months.”