Hundreds of delighted children are bursting with ideas on how to spend £1,500 awarded to two schools by the Daily Echo.
Youngsters at Oakfield Academy in Totton claimed the top prize of £1,000 in Amazon vouchers in our Tokens for Schools competition with pupils keen to splash the cash on school pets, a new play park and a pool in the playground!
A £500 Amazon voucher will also make 'a huge difference' to pupils at Beechwood Junior School in Bitterne.
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Families came out in force to support both schools, collecting tokens printed in the Daily Echo for eight weeks from the middle of May.
For a small school, with just 160 pupils on roll, Oakwood Academy packs a big punch, winning the competition for the second time in as many years.
After a quick tour, class ambassadors were keen to tell Daily Echo representative Lorelei Reddin of their ideas on how to spend their winnings. Seven-year-old Samuel fancied a spot of gaming with PS5, Nintendos and XBoxes installed, while nine-year-old Hannah wanted to buy a rope swing. A school hamster was a popular choice while one pupil even suggested housing a gorilla!
Executive headteacher Lucy Bray and Lana Sinclair, who takes the lead on community initiatives and organised the token collection, praised the school's parents, grandparents and 'wonderful community' who 'always support' the school.
The 360-pupil strong Beechwood Junior School is also a second time winner and will once again purchase new sporting and play equipment, including new bats and balls for the popular table tennis tables.
Nine-year-old Amelia would like to see some monkey bars installed in the school playground, while Nivel, also nine, would donate the money to struggling families in her homeland of Kenya.
Assistant headteacher Katie Furby told the Daily Echo: "Our children have earned this so we'll spend it on things for them. We could of course buy new glue sticks, but we want to give them the chance to really enjoy it, play and keep themselves active.
"Last year we managed to make the money last until July. With budgets stretched, this will once again make a huge difference."
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