Mary Hare Sports Appeal

Racing towards £5 million: Raising money for new sports facilities at Mary Hare School

On Friday 24 May, we announced the official launch of our new fundraising campaign; to raise £5 million for new sports facilities that will support our deaf young people and their access to sport.

Why do we need to raise £5 million?

Mary Hare School‘s current sports facilities haven‘t been updated significantly since it was first built in the 1950s. The current obstacles include a lack of space, small changing rooms, and the current size of the gym means the students are not able to take part in most team sports. In conversations that we had staff and students, it became very apparent that an update on these facilities was hugely needed, and over the last few years we have been in consultations with architects and making plans for this exciting new chapter of sport at Mary Hare.

What will the Mary Hare Sports Appeal bring?

The Mary Hare Sports Appeal will seek to build a brand-new, larger, sports hall, which will include a 4-court sports hall, a climbing wall, a fitness gym, dance and drama studio, and sports classrooms. There will also be four large changing rooms and facilities, and a large external multi-use games area.Working with Architect NVB, this new accessible and inclusive space will be acoustically designed and engineered to maximise the learning for deaf young people. Click here to read through the full details of the appeal.

Appeal Launch Event

We launched the event on Sports Day and, as well as the many families coming to cheer on the students in action, we welcomed a number of invited guests who attended to listen further about the appeal. 

Robin Askew shared the deep passion that sport brings for many students at Mary Hare, and Harriet McCalmont, Chair of Mary Hare Foundation, talked about the different ways the appeal can be supported.Also invited to speak was Sixth Former Roman, who shared how sport plays a pivotal part in friendship and community, and Alumna, Katie Dening, who plays competitively in Rugby and is currently part of the Women‘s England Deaf Rugby team.

The appeal was launched with a generous £5,000 donation, presented from Newbury and Thatcham Hockey Club.Harriet McCalmont shared, “It is very exciting to have launched this appeal. We had a wonderful launch event; it was so powerful to hear from our students and their passion for sport, and we are so grateful to already have pledges made and money received on the day .

Sport plays such an important part in the lives of all our students, so we are looking at every opportunity to raise the funds in order to get the project finished in good time.”

We are delighted to be able to official launch this appeal. By building new sports facilities at Mary Hare School, our aim is to nurture talent of the students and share the new facilities with deaf young people in other schools.

How can I help?

There are lots of way you can help! Have you ever wanted to challenge yourself? You could sign up for a marathon, or push the limits with a skydive, or step out of your comfort zone with a sponsored walk. Or if events are more your thing, you can hold a coffee morning, run a charity car wash, or organise a quiz, to name a few.We would love to hear your ideas, and we would happily support you throughout the process and help raise money for this campaign. The Mary Hare Foundation team can be contacted by email at foundation@maryhare.org.uk