Schools are turning to Airbnb-type tactics to raise much-needed funds, renting out every available space from classrooms to cafes, holding puppy training in their car parks and wrestling competitions in their gyms.
One state school, which asked to remain anonymous, said it raised over £700,000 in letting fees last year. But many others are also raising substantial sums by becoming increasingly innovative in the spaces they rent out.
Wyvil primary school in Vauxhall, south-west London, rents out its “light-filled white corridor” for photoshoots. New Rickstones academy in Witham, Essex, is offering its beauty room to anyone who wants “a high quality hair and beauty salon”. Stroud Green school in east London is offering a “well lit” hall with a “vaulted ceiling” for “music, dance, or theatre rehearsals, or film/photoshoots.”
West Hill primary school in Wandsworth, south-west London, advertises a stationary double decker bus it uses as a fun classroom to people who want to make “quirky films”.
“All schools are looking for unique ways to raise additional revenue and we thought our bus could be an unusual, characterful and fun way to potentially do that, while also getting our school more known in the local community,” said Tahira Khan, the school’s business manager.
Schools typically advertise through a range of dedicated online platforms. Sharesy, the newest site, has booked more than 11,500 sessions and generated £1.2m for schools since launching last year.
“Schools aren’t naturally commercial but they’re having to think of additional revenue streams and are becoming increasingly innovative with what they’re looking at – even though the obvious options of the playing fields and main halls remain the main money-spinners,” said Felix Atkin, founder and CEO of Sharesy.
