Welcome to the Friends of Mereside Primary Academy
We’re a fun, friendly, and all-welcoming group of parents, carers, and school staff dedicated to supporting our school and making a difference for our children. Whether it’s fundraising, running events, or simply bringing people together, we’re always busy—and we’d love for you to join in!
Last year, thanks to the incredible support of our school community, we raised over £9,000! This has gone towards exciting projects, equipment, and activities that directly benefit the children at Mereside.
What we do
We’re a proactive bunch who love making things happen! Here’s how we enrich school life and bring the community together:
🎉 Fundraising with fun at the heart – From school discos and fairs to raffles and bake sales, we bring the community together while raising much-needed funds.
📚 Enhancing school life – Helping fund books, music, playground equipment, learning resources, trips and more!
♻️ Preloved Uniform Sales – We sell good-quality second-hand uniform at great prices, making life easier for families while reducing waste.
🤝 Building a strong school community – We create opportunities for parents, carers, and staff to connect, share ideas, and make school life even better for everyone.
👐 Volunteering in school – Whether you can help with art, cookery, games, storytelling, or something special, your time and enthusiasm make a big difference to the children and staff. Let us know if you’d like to get involved!
Upcoming events – Join the fun!
We love putting on events that bring our school and local community together. Here’s what’s coming up:
🎱 Family Bingo Night – Thursday 4 April
A fun-filled evening for the whole family—prizes, laughter, and maybe a little friendly competition!
🎪 National Festival Circus – Friday 13 June
A magical, all-human, big-top circus experience right here at Mereside! Don’t miss this incredible event. Book tickets here
☀️ Summer Fair – Saturday 5 July
Our biggest event of the year is open to the whole Mereside School Community! A fantastic day of stalls, games, food, and entertainment, bringing together families and the wider community. Mark your calendar! We’d love you to give your time to help us deliver a great day.
How you can get involved
We welcome everyone, whether you have loads of time to spare or just a little! Here’s how you can help:
✨ Join our meetings – Share ideas and have your say (it’s relaxed, and there’s usually drinks and snacks!).
✨ Volunteer – Help at an event, bake some cakes, or lend a hand behind the scenes – we always need support and new volunteers, especially those with skills like facepainting, DJ-ing, or catering!
✨ Donate to or buy from our preloved uniform shop – Save money, reduce waste, and support the school at the same time.
✨ Sponsor a raffle prize or event via your own business or other local businesses
✨ Support our fundraising – Every raffle ticket bought, event attended, and donation made helps us do more.
✨ Share your skills – From social media to event planning, any help is appreciated.
No pressure, no big commitments—just a friendly team working together to support our school!
Meet your team
Chair: Sarah Golden
Treasurer: Isla Hunwick
Secretary: vacant – get in touch if you’re interested!
Committee Members: Becky John, Alison Tootill, Heather Jolly, Catherine Crowe, Sarah Connop, Sarah Rutland, Claire Bloor, Kay Wilson, Stacy Goddard, Emily Challinor, Kate Payne.
We’re always excited to welcome new faces—come say hello!
Get in touch
📩 Email: meresidepta@gmail.com
💬 Join FOMS Community What’sApp Announcements Group
🗓️ Friends of Mereside Meetings: Last Wednesday of every month – email us for venue details.
Whether you’d like to volunteer, share ideas, help at events, donate prizes or preloved uniform, or just find out more, we’d love to hear from you!
Newsletters
Newsletter
Committee Information
📄 Minutes
Committee Meeting Minutes – January 2025
📜 Constitution
Friends of Mereside School Constitution
Volunteering:
Getting Involved
If you would like to volunteer help in school you will be very welcome. Your help with activities such as art and craft, cookery, games or sharing a story will be much appreciated by the children and staff. It will also add that little extra to the life of the school. We are always grateful for your time and enthusiasm in the classroom.
If you have a special skill to offer, or simply invaluable time and enthusiasm, please do let us know!
Our Commitment to You
As one of our valued volunteers, we are committed to giving you the following:
• a friendly and supportive working environment;
• enthusiastic children;
• an opportunity to contribute to decisions about how volunteering in the school is managed;
• recognition for the work that you do and its impact on learning;
• a reference if you apply for paid work here or elsewhere.
Your Commitment to us
Please be aware that you will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check. If you are not known to the school we also ask that you provide two referees and attend an informal interview. You will also be required to attend child protection training.
We are well aware that your time and energies are given freely and willingly. Most volunteers work in school at a set time each week, and if you can commit to this for at least half a term, we would find this helpful. However, we do not insist that you commit to working for a fixed or indefinite period of time, or give notice when you wish to stop volunteering at Mereside. We do ask that you agree to and abide by the guidance found in the Volunteer Handbook, issued to you when you apply to volunteer.
We would also ask that you let us know if you have made an arrangement that you later find you cannot keep. Your work is valuable to the school and staff may have been counting on you to help with an activity. Just give us a call as soon as you know you cannot come.
Safeguarding
As mentioned above anyone volunteering or undertaking work experience in our school will be required to undergo and enhanced DBS check and Child Protection training.
If at any time when working in the school you have concerns for the welfare or safety of a child please seek to share your concern as soon as possible with the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Designated Safeguarding Lead is: Mrs Lindsey Hughes, Head of School.
Deputy Designated Safeguarding leads are: Mrs Laura Hopley, Mrs Rachel Harper, Mrs Naomi Davies, Miss Beth Scoltock, Mrs Angela Ackers, Mrs Reanna Turner, Mrs Sam Waters, Miss Jessie Moffat.
We appreciate the help that all our volunteers give in supporting the work of the school.