Meet the school supporting its community through the cost-of-living crisis

A school which has opened a ‘community cabin’ to help support parents and teach children eco lessons has been praised for its efforts.

Coed y Brain Primary School runs a community cabin – which allows pupils’ families and the local community access to food, household essentials, and clothing free of charge.

As well as supporting families, the cabin is also used to teach children about reducing waste and environmental matters.

Headteacher Jo Smith explained: “We set up our cabin to reach out more to our community, to reduce food waste, and to help our fantastic families as the cost of living crisis is significant.

“We have established an antipoverty strategy in school and have looked to reduce impact on families with uniforms, costs of trips etc whilst still ensuring rich and stimulating experiences.

“The children have embraced the eco aspect of what we are trying to achieve and are certainly ethically-informed citizens who care and are keen to make a difference now and for the future.”

As part of the project, the school has appointed teaching assistant Jo Jenkins as its ‘Community Champion’.

Mrs Jenkins said: “In less than a year we have established our community cabin which has allowed us to forge relationships in many areas of our community.

“Charities such as FareShare, our local Asda, Co-op and Tesco support us weekly and we couldn’t continue this venture without their engagement.

“We operate on a ‘Take what you need, give what you can’ basis. This is a non-profit initiative and therefore we are always keen to hear from others that can offer us any support and advice.

The school is also saving towards purchasing a fridge, freezer, and washing machine so it can increase the support on offer to families.

The project has been praised for its support efforts by Caerphilly Senedd Member Hefin David, who recently visited the school.

He said: “I was so impressed with setup at Coed y Brain. The teachers and learners are doing a fantastic job of supporting people through what are very tough times, whilst reducing waste through recycling school uniforms.

“A big thank you to school council members Erin, Sam, Sophie, Kairi, Broghan and Aimee for all their work on keeping the cabin going and encouraging their eco ethos throughout the school.”