The Hargreaves Foundation supports The Dales School

The Trustees of The Hargreaves Foundation are pleased to announce that funding has been awarded to The Dales School in Northumberland, a specialist primary school working with children with additional educational needs and physical disabilities, particularly those with challenging financial situations at home. The funding provided will help to transform a Class 144 pacer train into an educational centre, with a library, careers aspiration classroom and a train driving simulator to benefit young SEND people all over the North East, particularly those living in poverty or in receipt of free school meals.

The centre will help to address the social and economic problems that generate low aspirations and limited employment opportunities for disadvantaged SEND children and to introduce and encourage STEM career aspirations, increasing the number of children developing interests in local STEM businesses. Furthermore, the library will be utilised for the enjoyment of children without books at home, a hobby that will be transferred into the home by working with the parents. 

The centre will also be used by: local business to understand SEND children and their employment opportunities as they progress into working adults; by ‘Network Rail’ who will use it to provide practical railway safety talks to an extra 120 plus students per year living in the North East area as a free resource; and local schools will be invited to use the library, benefitting a further 50-100 students per year, making the Dales’ educational centre an invaluable tool for local young people.