ADDED
With the summer holidays not too far away in the distant future,
many schools will be thinking about what improvements they want to
make over the summer. Whether it's new computers, carpet for their
classroom, a new sports surface or playground - money is always the
issue especially in today's climate.
There are a lot of funding companies out there, and it is good
advice to use one that works specifically with the education sector
and has a good understanding and experience of working on similar
projects. My understanding is that schools cannot simply borrow
money and pay back with interest as a business or individual would.
Capital Funding for
Voluntary Aided Schools in England explains how:
A school cannot borrow money without
the express permission of the Secretary of State. A trustee
can borrow to provide facilities at a school, but cannot use any
school assets or school revenue, as a form of security. All
loans must be free standing and have no financial impact on a
school, and the school should not take on the burden of the loans
in terms of paying out money or selling assets. If the
Trustees wish to borrow for the school legal advice should always
be sought.
However, there are rental schemes out there which work in a very
different way, where payments are split over a period of years and
paid on a monthly basis. Funding 4 Education explains their system
in more detail.
There is a myth that only people who
can't afford to pay cash actually rent. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Many people tend to overlook the fact that with any
capital equipment, they are actually paying for what the equipment
does and not what it is! Now, no organisation would dream of paying
an employee's salary 3 years in advance, they pay for the benefit
as they derive it on a monthly basis. Renting enables schools to
apply exactly the same concept to their equipment. They pay for it
as they get the benefit from it.
With Funding 4 Education you can have the sports surface you
need, installed when you need it regardless of whether the school
has the full amount of money or not. For example if a school has a
capital budget of £50,000 per year for three years, it is only
possible to spent £50,000 each year. By using a company like
Funding 4 Education, schools can get £140,000 and have the cash to
hand to pay for the installation of the new multi use games area or
3G football pitch immediately.
With schools starting to install tennis courts, MUGA's and 3G
pitches with floodlighting, these synthetic pitches can withstand
much more hours of use and one of the major benefits of using a
rental system is that the new synthetic surface could potentially
pay for itself if the school were to collect payments from hiring
the surface out on an evening or weekend.
To find out more about Funding 4 Education visit www.funding4education.co.uk or
email Playrite by clicking here.
Posted
at 09:44