After the Adding Sporting Excellence campaign exceeded its initial target of £750,000 to build a sports hall in May, the decision was made to proceed with the campaign in the hope of reaching £1m so an astroturf could be built too.

With £924,759 raised so far, the campaign is very close to its target and the grammar school hopes to reach its £1m goal by the end of the summer, ready for the building of the sports hall to start in the autumn.

Campaign chairman Dick Edwards is thrilled by the success to date.
"I am delighted by the level of support we have received from the Ripon community over the past 8 months," he said.

"It is thanks to everyone's extreme generosity that we will soon be able to provide our children with the sports facilities they deserve. I urge people to continue in this support over the summer in order that we can reach the £1m target."

'generosity'

Headmaster Martin Pearman is equally delighted with the campaign's achievements.

He said: "The generosity of local people means these much-needed and exciting facilities will be available to the whole Ripon community in the very near future.

"The sports hall and astroturf will also allow the school to provide a far more diverse sporting curriculum for our students and will encourage youngsters in Ripon to participate in a wider variety of sports."