JSM Group’s Community Grant brings donkey rides back to Riverside Primary School Summer Fete

JSM Group has supported Riverside Primary School’s Summer Fete through its Community Grant Scheme, funding a donkey ride that became one of the standout attractions of the day.

JSM’s Community Grants supported the first donkey ride at the fete ten years ago, and again this year.

The ride drew crowds of pupils, parents and staff throughout the event, helping the school raise funds that go directly towards educating its pupils.

The grant was put forward by Doug Monk, Contracts Manager at JSM Group, whose daughter Bella was at the fete for her last summer at Riverside Primary School before moving on.

Doug leads JSM’s Fibre Management Team, overseeing the delivery of all fibre projects on time, within budget, and to client specification. He has also been on both sides of the grant scheme. He walked the 25km Thames Bridges Trek for the Dragonfly Cancer Trust with a team of JSM colleagues, having seen grants back a couple of causes that mattered to him over the years. Ten years after the first donkey ride at Riverside, he put the school forward again.

“There’s nothing like a donkey ride to bring an entire school playground together. It was brilliant to see the Riverside community come together, and knowing the funds raised will help educate every child there made it a fete none of us will forget.” – says Doug.

Riverside is one of several causes backed through the scheme this year:

A road safety kit of cones, barriers and signs for Latton Green Primary Academy in Harlow, now used by pupils to build their own road works and redesign scooter routes.

A Community Grant for Gallions Primary School’s Summer Fete, funding prizes for the children taking part, with colleagues spending the day volunteering at the event.

The Community Action Trust’s fifth annual golf day at Stockwood Park in Luton, which raised £2,062 towards mobility equipment for elderly people in Zimbabwe.

Fencing and groundworks for a local allotment, put forward by Project Manager Oliver Wales, protecting six plots from rabbit damage instead of the three originally planned.

The Community Grant Scheme puts funding behind the causes JSM people already give their time to, in the places they live and work. A decade on from the first donkey ride at Riverside, the same school is still feeling the benefit.