The Brooke Weston Trust is delighted that schools across Fenland and East Cambridgeshire will now benefit from £6m worth of newly announced Government funding.

Our Chief Executive, along with Wisbech MP Stephen Barclay, and other agencies have worked together to lobby the Department for Education after the region missed out in the first tranche of funding for social mobility ‘opportunity areas’ in October.

Now six further regions have been designated and with Wisbech and East Cambridgeshire among those areas nationally benefitting from a total of £72m. In addition, a further £3.5m is being allocated so each area can have their own Research School to help lead development and sharing of best practice in schools. Each region will also have priority access to other Department of Education funding for areas like mentoring and career advice.

The Brooke Weston Trust initially contacted local MP Stephen Barclay to seek his support in questioning why the region not being designated in the first wave of funding. Mr Barclay said on his website: ‘If Brooke Weston had not flagged this, if we had not worked collaboratively locally to pull a case together, and if we had not made the pitch effectively, Fenland and East Cambs would no doubt have missed out.

‘We have great talent and potential amongst the students in our schools which I see on a regular basis. This money will mean Fenland and East Cambs are now at the heart of the Department for Education’s flagship programme, and will have priority when bidding for other schemes in the future.’

Brooke Weston Trust's Chief Executive, Dr Andrew Campbell said: ‘This funding announcement is great news. The Trust is committed to building strong partnerships with everyone across the region to really make the most of this fantastic opportunity. This additional investment in Fenland education is long overdue and we are delighted to have played a part in making it happen. This cash boost will give many schools cross the area the means to address existing challenges, support each other more effectively and create exciting new opportunities. We can look forward to the future with confidence knowing that the educational requirements and ambitions expectations in this area have at last been recognised at a national level.’