In 2023, St Matthew’s Primary School, Cambridge, like so many schools across the country, was plunged into a budgetary crisis, mainly due to rising staff costs and energy prices. We are fundraising to avoid cuts to a range of essential facilities and services.
Donations are made to St Matthew’s PTA (a registered charity), but are kept separate from other PTA funds and are currently used to fund a set of essential services at risk of being cut.
Total donated so far: £151,797.27
(as of 31st August 2023)
What for?
In years when the school is not facing a budget crisis, donations to this campaign fund facilities that will benefit the school and its pupils for years to come, but which are difficult to fund from the school’s core budget.
Click to see items previously funded by the campaign
15 additional Chromebooks, so the school has a set on each floor.
Outdoor learning equipment for year 2
New carpet for the relocated and remodelled library (cost split 50/50 between Fund St Matthew’s funds and normal PTA funds raised from events)
Laptop to allow SEN (Special Education Needs) assessments to continue
Contributions to the school in 2021-22 that were used to keep essential provisions running. We are hoping the school can invest an equivalent amount in “enhancement projects” when the school budget is healthier.
Filling the £60k funding shortfall in 2019-20 – the original trigger for the campaign
In 2023, the school was plunged into a budgetary crisis, mainly due to rising staff costs (without corresponding government funding) and energy prices. Mr Davies asked the PTA and this campaign to fund a series of budget items that he considers important to maintain, but which were at risk of being cut due to a budget deficit.
See details of the “deficit projects”
| Item | Approx cost (£k) |
| Renewing the lease on the school’s Chromebooks (the ones that pre-date the set bought by this fund in 2021-22 | 8.0 |
| Counselling services | 8.5 |
| Music therapy | 1.6 |
| Pupil Premium places in clubs and trips | 4.5 |
| Phonics teaching programme to replace withdrawn scheme | 13 |
| Music programme for all pupils (rotates across year groups) | 12 |
| TOTAL | 47.6 |
| Less £11,000 funded by the PTA from core PTA funds (raised from events) | 36.6 |
Thanks to generous donations, including £8,000 raised from the Colour Run in summer 2023, we are well on the way to fully funding these items, with around £7000 left to raise.
Once the deficit projects are funded, we expect donations will once again be used for “school enhancement” projects. These include creating a covered area outside the dining hall, so children can eat outside for more of the year and playground enhancements to enable different types of play.
Can you help?
To donate, visit the Donate page.
If you already have a regular donation set up and want to change it, see the Donating FAQ.
If you would like to discuss making a large donation or establishing a match funding pot, please contact us on info@fundstmatthews.com or speak to Seb Wills.
There are many other ways you can help such as fundraising, generating ideas for school enhancements the helping with the delivery of school enhancement projects. If you can help, please contact us on info@fundstmatthews.com.
How much are people donating?
People are giving various amounts, ranging from £5 to £100 per month, or considerably more in some cases. We are hoping the donation matching scheme will unlock more/higher donations and enable more ambitious projects to be funded to improve our school. Please only give what you can afford.
The chart below shows the total amount donated each month so far:
Please add your regular or one-off donation if you would like to support the school.
For all enquiries, you are very welcome to email us at info@fundstmatthews.com