A VOLUNTEER fundraiser in an Eden village has successfully raised more than £1,000 to buy new science equipment for the children at Orton CofE School.

The additional funds sourced by Jill Bawden have enabled the school to buy inspiring science materials for every age group, from nursery and reception up to Year 6.

“Small village schools like ours are under a lot of financial pressure and there’s huge time pressure on staff too," said headteacher Emma Pomfret. "We’re very lucky. Not only do we have an active Friends of Orton School group that raises a lot of money for us but we also have a local volunteer, Jill Bawden, who puts so much time into finding funds and filling in forms for us.

"It’s a huge help and we really appreciate everything that she does for us. Seeing the big boxes of colourful equipment come into school is exciting and we can already see it inspiring the children in their science lessons.”

Funds have come from the Understanding the World Around Us project (Institute of Physics and Institution of Engineering and Technology), the Royal Society of Chemistry and Tata Steel, that has a plant near Shap, and have been spent on everything from microscopes and sound tubes to butterfly farms and data loggers.