Parents want the best possible education for their children. Every parent hopes their child will look back on their time at school with much fondness and happy memories.

Hartest Church of England Primary School is a lovely, intimate, rural school in the beautiful village of Hartest in Suffolk with just 69 pupils on the school register.

It is blessed with a fabulous team of supportive and nurturing teaching staff, an active PTA group, made up of parent volunteers called The Friends of Hartest School and is lead by a super, hands-on, enthusiastic head master who is passionate about the schools progression.

Sadly, the school budget no longer covers all that it once did and the level of fundraising by PTAs has had to increase over recent years.

In May 2017, after 4 years of fundraising, The Friends of Hartest School had finally raised enough money for a complete refurbishment of the invaluable and much loved school swimming pool.

But, the pool refurb has left the FOHS bank account empty!

And the empty bank account comes just when the computers in the IT Hub are in need of replacement!

INTRODUCING PAUL FOSTER!

After living in France for 5 years with his wife Frances and their two children George, 7 and Beatrice, 4, Paul and his family moved to Hartest in 2016. They instantly fell in love with village life, community spirit and with Hartest Primary School, where George and Beatrice have settled in very well.

Paul, 44, director of Allium Gardeners Ltd, a specialist grounds maintenance, soft landscaping and design company is not only passionate about the great outdoors, he is also passionate about the future of small, rural schools and the importance for them to move forward.

Paul is also passionate about entering IRONMAN races!!

He completed his first one in 2011 in Nice, France and then again 2 years later, but this time to raise money for St Clare’s Hospice in Essex after losing a dear friend to cancer.

In May 2018 Paul will be competing in IRONMAN LANZAROTE , billed as one of the hardest courses in the world! Riding down hill is actually harder than riding up because the island is so exposed and so windy!

Matthew Coombs, head teacher at Hartest Primary School, is ‘over the moon’ that Paul wishes to compete in this event to raise the money needed for 15 Mac mini computers for the IT Hub – giving the children who attend this small, rural school the opportunity to benefit from the best and latest technology much earlier than it was ever thought possible!

The Ironman Lanzarote 2018 course description is as follows:

2.4 mile swim - a 2 lap rectangular course taking place in the Atlantic Ocean. The water is around 18-19 degrees.

Followed by a 112 mile bike course which will challenge participants to a hilly and windy ride up to the northern point of the island.

Finishing with a marathon! The participants will run 3 laps totaling 26.2 miles in the full sun and heat.

With the support of his friends and family, Paul’s training programme will gradually start to increase from now, a whole 9 months before the race! Training will include lots of cycling, running and swimming; as much as 10-15 hours per week, whatever the weather, in preparation for this mammoth undertaking!

In November Paul will be heading to Lanzarote to take part in an Ironman Training Camp to prepare him for what lays ahead!

Please help us to help Paul reach his personal target of £10,000, which in turn will benefit the children of Hartest Primary School condsiderably.

You can do this by pressing the ‘Like’ button on Paul’s Facebook page to see, amongst other things, how his training is going.

You can do this by ‘Sharing’ his page to spread the word far and wide of what he is doing and why he is doing it!

You can make a donation for this truly worthwhile cause.

Very many thanks and Good Luck Paul from everyone at Hartest Primary School, we’re right behind you…Cheering you on, you understand!!! Not actually ‘right’ behind you!!!

*****WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN AN AMAZING £6,000 OFFLINE TOWARDS OUR £10,000 target***** -To say we are pleased is an understatement!!!