A Lurgan community, which rallied behind a nursery school whose outdoor activity area was destroyed by arsonists, has raised close to £3,000.
The principal of Harrison Nursery School was left counting the cost of the vandalism which saw an outdoor forest area used by the children reduced to smouldering ash earlier this month.
Jill Hunter said she and her staff were “devastated”.
Determined not to let her students witness the destruction the site was cleared that weekend and local people began to chip in with help.
The community fundraising efforts saw a total of £2875.00 handed over to the school.
Upper Bann MP, Carla Lockhart set up the GoFundMe page in the aftermath of the incident.
“When a community comes together it can do great things,” said Ms Lockhart.
“Harrison Nursery staff, children, parents and the local community were just devastated when they learned of the fire and the way it destroyed the outdoor forest area nestled on the grounds of Lurgan Junior High School.
“There was anger and frustration that this was a deliberate attack and as a result I set up a Go Fund Me page with a target of £500.
“I was very quickly blown away with the support given by the local community. A sum of £2,875 was raised in a period of a week demonstrating the love that people have for Harrison and the force for good it is in the lives of so many children.
“Mrs Jill Hunter, the principal, and her team at Harrison are just amazing and so well liked by all of the kids and parents locally and this shows in the amount raised. Thank you to Brownlow House’s David Martin for their significant donation to this local cause.
“This money will help rebuild what was destroyed and allow the kids once again to enjoy outdoor play. Thank you one and all for making this happen.”
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