St Catherine’s School and College is a residential and day school for students aged 9 to 19 with speech, language and communication needs.

The number of students that attend St Catherine’s has significantly grown over the last 5 years, as the number of children and young people diagnosed with speech, language and communication needs has increased. To support our increasing number of students, we have focused on improving the areas that students use on a daily basis. One of the areas that is frequently used that we would like assistance with, is our chapel, which is now used as our assembly space.

We are looking to improve this space, retaining the chapel’s original features but adapting it to ensure it can best meet the needs of our students. In particular, the aspects of the assembly space we would like to improve are:

- Replace the current pews with more comfortable seating, which are more suited to our students’ needs

- Install a sound loop to support our students with hearing impairments

- Restore the chapel to its original glory by cleaning the stained glass windows and redecorating the floors and walls

As a school run by a charity, we are unable to apply for specific school grants to improve our buildings. Therefore, we are looking to raise £10,000 with the support of the community to create an inviting space for our students, as well as celebrating the history of our school by restoring the chapel’s original features. Any donations over £100 will feature on our thank you wall. If we are fortunate enough to exceed our target, any additional funds will go towards restoring the cast iron balcony at the back of the school’s main building, which we believe is one of the last remaining cast iron Victorian balconies in Ventnor and one of the few left on the Isle of Wight.