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UPDATE:

Thanks to the support of the Lynn Foundation and their generous donation of £500, donated in person by Claire Parsons after visiting Chicken Club and being so impressed by the value of support which the chickens bring to students, we have now reached our original target of £2000.

This brings our total fundraising so far to £3063. (Offline donations unfortunately can't be added to the total shown on our JustGiving page).

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Chicken Club was launched in the summer of 2023 and, with a generous donation and the support of the Bishop Luffa School Parents and Friends Association, built a secure run enabling us to rescue our first ex-commercial hens in November 2023.

With the help of staff, students and parents, Chicken Club has already turned an unused and overgrown part of the school site into a thriving wellbeing area, in which we have also planted fruit trees. We now need to make this area fully accessible to all staff and students, with paved level access and a covered seating area for those who prefer to be near the animals to experience their calming ability.

As of November 2024, after a year of having the chickens in school, Chicken Club has become very popular and benefits a large number of students who see the chickens at different times of the day (including 'Calm Chicken time' in registration to help students who need a relaxed transition into the start of the school day. We were able to expand our flock in July and now have some lovely feather footed bantams as well as our ex commercial hens.

At weekends and in the school holidays, we have a large number of students who come in with their families (most of whom live near school) and love spending time with the hens.

We launched our initial appeal in early 2023 which was for £2000 to fund the materials required to have an outbuilding converted to provide a warm, dry place to store overalls and for students to store bags and change.

Thanks to 2 large donations in October 2024, we have now raised the funds we need to reroof and make watertight the old brick outbuilding. Due to the rising costs of building materials we need to raise another £3000 in order to provide electricity and water to the building so overalls can be dried, students can wash hands and to provide a building which will provide the facilities needed for staff and students as we look to expand from chickens to other animals too... hopefully goats next!

As well as the support of the Bishop Luffa PFA, we have been sponsored by Scarterfields Animal Feed Distributors, who have provided us with feed and bedding this academic year.

We would be hugely grateful for donations to help us continue and expand what we can offer to students.

If you would prefer to donate time, materials or labour (especially if you are an electrician or plumber) we would also love to hear from you.

Thank you for your support!

Mrs Fowles and all the Chicken Club students and staff