TWO new minibuses have been received by a Thornbury school thanks to generous sponsorship from local businesses and organisations.

The 17-seater Ford minibuses will replace The Castle School’s ageing minibus which had come to the end of its service.

Sponsorship opportunities for the two buses which will be used by students for extra-curricular activities were opened up to members of the school’s Premium Partners programme, which involves businesses with close links to the school.

As a result the two buses are now sponsored by Thornbury Rotary, Thornbury Chamber of Commerce and Bristol firm ITEC Group.

The sponsors were on hand to see the arrival of the new buses last week, Friday, June 26.

Chairman of Thornbury Chamber of Commerce, Rowena Moncrieffe, welcomed the opportunity to sponsor the buses and support young people in the town.

She said: “We think that young people are very important in Thornbury and our sponsorship will enable them to get out an about and to improve their school experience.

“As a member of the school’s Premium Partner programme we welcome opportunities like this to better connect businesses in the town with the school.

“Because we are a partner as the wider chamber we can represent all of the town’s smaller businesses as a whole in connecting with students at the school.”

The school’s headteacher, Peter Smart, said that the Premium Partners scheme had helped to connect the school with the local community.

“This sponsorship is just a small example of the ways we’ve benefitted from the scheme,” he said. “It helps us raise awareness of the local community to our students which enables them to better engage with it.”

The buses are used to transport students to extra-curricular activities including sporting events and day trips.

Mr Smart added: “The new buses allow us to offer more to our students and will hopefully improve their learning in the long term.”

More information about the Premium Partners scheme can be found at: http://www.thornbury-premium-partners.co.uk/