The project has been undertaken at St Augustine’s C of E (VA) Junior School, in Woodston, and has seen an old Nationwide Coaches vehicle converted into a new library and reading area.
Seeing the work completed has fulfilled a ten-year dream for the school to turn the coach, that was at the end of its life, into an area to benefit both pupils and the community.
It has been a community project from the beginning with local tradespeople, skilled crafters and other volunteers getting involved to help transform the inside into a usable space.
Furniture has been made from discarded pallets, old school uniform has been turned into cushions and the outside has been repainted in school colours.
The children were able to join in too by making and painting planters from old tyres and unwanted pallets, which were then used to plant herbs, strawberries and assorted flowering plants.
The bus is also surrounded by decking made from boards produced from 50,000 recycled plastic bottles and then decorated with solar powered lighting. The bus even has its own solar panel to provide infra-red heating.
Headteacher Sam Brunt said: “At St Augustine’s, we have fulfilled a tten year dream of converting an old coach into a ‘Book Bus’; a library and reading area for our children to use, inspiring a love of reading. At the very beginning, we knew we wanted this to be a sustainable project and it was important to us that it would continue that way.
“We hope this project will be used for many years to come by our pupils and this
wider community.”
