When Tawd Valley Developments heard about the plight of a local primary school that had suffered significant flood damage, they knew they had to help.

As the children of Westhead Lathom St. James' Church of England Primary School in Westhead were about to return to school following lockdown, a water pipe burst causing significant damage to both a classroom and resources, meaning the children would once again be separated from their friends and teachers and sent home.

Not only was the physical structure of the school affected, but carpets, reading books and computers were also damaged. To make matters worse, their insurance didn’t cover the damage.That's where Tawd Valley Developments came in.

Having started work just metres away from the school on a new development of ten high-quality energy efficient homes on the site of the former Halton Castle pub, the council-owned company threw a lifeline to the school. They offered to repair the damage to the building at no cost as well as offering to make a donation towards replacing books lost in the incident.

Whitfield & Brown, contractors from other live Tawd Valley developments in Skelmersdale spent one week repairing the damage to the school which is now complete.

Mark Kitts, MD of Tawd Valley Developments, said: "When we heard about what had happened at the school we knew straight away we wanted to help. We're delighted to have been able to get the children back into their classroom.

"Schools like Westhead Lathom St James' are vital to their community. We'd like to think some of those children will one day live in the homes we are building there now and that we might be investing in the future of this community in more ways than one."

Headteacher Helen Clark, said: "We want to say a huge thanks to Tawd Valley Developments and Whitfield & Brown for repairing the wall in school.

"All the workmen were fantastic and we wouldn't have even known they were in school. They've done a fab job and it's great that the children can be back in their classroom."

Tawd Valley Developments is owned by West Lancashire Borough Council and has five active sites in the Borough in the process of delivering quality council homes for residents to rent.

The Halton Castle development of 10 homes will be offered for rental by the council and due for completion in 2022.