A WARRINGTON primary is making a unique donation appeal with the hope of winning a cash prize and updating their outdoor facilities for pupils.

St Vincent's Catholic Primary School in Penketh are competing with other schools in the area to collect as many batteries as possible.

And they appealing for residents help them in their mission to win.

The yearly competition is run by the leading producer of batteries, Duracell, as an initiative to encourage more people to recycle batteries the correct way instead of throwing them away at home.

Schools try to collect more batteries than other competing schools to win an appealing cash prize of £3,500 which is to be spent on outdoor equipment.

Competition doors close on June 3, when all the batteries are counted and taken to a recycling point or collected by Duracell.

Speaking on the contest, teaching assistant, Joanne Croughan, said: “This is the first time we have entered; we want to do our bit for the environment as well as trying to win the prize fund. 

“We have until June 3 to collect and count as many batteries as possible.

“The winning school is the one who collects the most batteries, so we don’t have a target as such just as many as possible in the hopes that we are the winning school. We are currently fifth in the competition.”

Joanne explained how the cash prize would be extremely beneficial to the Penketh school, as the school has began to update its outdoor areas but still has ‘a long way to go’.

And the money would help St Vincent’s erect two sheltered areas in key stage one and two so that the children are able to spend time learning outside whilst being sheltered from both rain and sun.

Joanne continued: “We have some old wooden equipment that is weather worn and needs replacing.

“These items are all really expensive and if we could win some money towards this then we could finish the project earlier without asking families to help in hard times and then we could focus on improving other facilities such as reading books, sports equipment and sensory resources. 

“If anybody was willing to help us, they could drop their batteries at the main office at St Vincent’s, Finlay Avenue, Penketh, WA5 2PN. We would be very grateful for any donations. 

“We are a small school but really want to give our children the best school experience that we can.”