Thousands raised for Wiltshire primary school hit by fire

  • Watch Caron Bell's report.

Thousands of pounds have been raised for a Wiltshire primary school following a fire.

A number of buildings at Woodborough Primary School, near Pewsey, were badly damaged during the blaze, which started on September 17.

The cause of the fire is unknown but an investigation is underway. The school is shut this week pending an assessment of the damage.

Nearly £5,000 has been raised online, meanwhile, by parents, residents and members of the community to help with repairs.

A picture of the fire before it was extinguished.

“So amazed,” staff wrote on the Go Fund Me page, which was set up a few hours after the incident.

“The generosity of many people is incredible! Some donations have been huge. Each donation is a huge help to the school.”

In an earlier statement, the school said two classrooms, the staff room and some “other areas of the school” had been lost because of the fire.

The fire is believed to have started in the roof of one of the school's buildings. Credit: Devizes Fire Station
The school is shut this week, with pupils remote learning.

The premises is closed this week, with remote learning in place from Wednesday 22 September.

Pupils are expected to return to in-person classes from next week.

"We will rebuild and continue to provide high calibre education,” the statement added. “The Woodborough magic will prevail!

"We want to say a sincere thank you to all the emergency services who attended the fire; they risked their lives to minimise the damage to our buildings and adjoining property. We are sincerely grateful to them."