Major auction in aid of new playground for Croghan NS
The painting of the school yard and play area at Croghan NS back in 2021.
A major auction is taking place on Friday, December 1st in the Four Provinces, Rathallen in a bid to raise funds for a playground at Croghan National School.
The facility for the children will cost in the region of €80,000 and this is the first fundraiser by the school to raise the necessary money in order to start the project.
The school accommodates 170 students which includes seven mainstream classes and five special needs classes. The new playground will also complement the existing one but will make more sensory equipment available to those who need it.
It will be sited on what is presently a green field area behind the football pitch and the project will include the installation of ground works, soft play surface, equipment, gates, and fences. One of the main items will be a play tower, which must be of public playground standard, and this alone will cost in the region of €20,000.
The majority of the funds needed to pay for the playground will be as a direct result of fundraising as the equipment can cost anywhere from €1,000 to €20,000.
The children will take it in turns using this and the older playground but some of those in the special education classes will also use it as part of their OT programme.
The major auction will offer about 200 lots on the night. Those in attendance can bid on anything from hotel and restaurant vouchers, fitness class, two nights B&B with evening meal, bags of turf, coal or timber, bags of animal meal, bales of silage and hay, vouchers for children’s parties, vouchers for hairdressers and beauticians, paintings, lamps and also passes to the Longford Panto or the drama festival in Athlone, the list seems endless.
Already a number of people have donated money while a number of local businesses have undertaken to buy some of the necessary playground equipment.
Principal Phia Gannon, who has held the role at Croghan NS for the last 15 years is inviting and encouraging parents, locals and anyone who loves a good bargain and a good night out to come along to the Four Provinces on Friday, December 1 at 8pm and “make a bid for a good cause”.
