Bishop blesses and opens the Sisters of St Louis Wellbeing Hub at Newmarket’s St Louis Catholic Academy following £100k gift

A Newmarket school’s wellbeing hub has been officially opened after the project was made possible thanks to a £100,000 gift.

The Sisters of St Louis generously gifted the money to St Louis Catholic Academy for the purpose of better supporting children with social and emotional needs, their families and the support teams working with them.

On March 21, St Louis children, staff and families welcomed Bishop Emeritus Alan Hopes to celebrate Mass in their parish church, followed by the blessing and official opening of the Sisters of St Louis Wellbeing Hub.

Sister Blathnaid flew over from Dublin to represent her Order in handing over the building to the school and to see this ‘wonderful facility’ blessed by the Bishop, said headteacher Sue Blakeley.

Mrs Blakeley said: “The multi-purpose space provides a confidential area for counselling, a sensory space for calming, a quiet retreat to hold specialist support meetings and an area for small group therapies.”

Co-chairs of governors, Bethan Byrne and Marc Walker, are excited to add this pastoral offer to the Ofsted-outstanding personal development provided to children in the school and are ‘very grateful’ to the ‘generous’ gift from the Sisters of St Louis, Mrs Blakeley said.

The Sisters left Newmarket following decades of service to children and the wider community and wished to contribute to the wellbeing of future generations.

The primary school wanted a calm and safe space to work with children needing additional wellbeing support, and the new Sisters of St Louis Wellbeing Hub is ‘a wonderful place’ for this, Mrs Blakeley said.

The multi-purpose space will be used for parent outreach and workshops, therapies for children, a sensory space and a place to meet with other wellbeing professionals.

The company Eco Classrooms and Nurseries was selected for the design and build because of its high eco credentials. With the support of the Diocese, plans were agreed and work commenced in November.

Located in a courtyard, the building has skylight views of the sky, is surrounded by a walkway to sit and be calm within and has wide glazed doors that allow the internal room to open up to the outside.

Pupils avidly followed the build as it progressed, which was a great learning opportunity for them.

St Louis Catholic Academy, in Fordham Road, is part of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust.