Merit is a small school with a big heart for children in Stoke On Trent with medical and mental health needs who cannot have their needs met by mainstream education. We support vulnerable children facing significant barriers to education like trauma, PTSD and chronic illness to move forward to the future they deserve.

We are a city based school in a deprived urban area where escaping into nature is challenging for many of our students and our wider community. We dream of transforming our small concrete yard into a tranquil green space where students can escape the pressures of their lives and reconnect with the natural world. We are passionate about outdoor learning, children who learn outdoors know more, understand more, feel better, behave better, work more cooperatively and are physically healthier.

In creating our own urban oasis, we will be able to share our space with the local community by organising fund raising events, growing our own produce and serving hot chocolate and marshmallows around the camp fire. Our forest school teacher would be able to demonstrate survival and bushcraft skills in community workshops. This fund would mean everything to a small school like Merit and would transform our school environment and make a lifelong impact on the lives of our students.