Finalists for Cash 4 Our Schools announced

Schools across the region will soon find out if they have won a slice of a £20,000 cash pot being given away by the Express & Star – as the 15 finalists were today announced.

The Cash 4 Our Schools campaign started in October when schools and their supporters started collecting a series of tokens containing different points values.

Since then more than 180 schools have registered to take part.

The finalists' tokens have now all been counted and verified and invitations have been sent to the schools for a special presentation to reveal the overall winners.

Schools in the final 15 are in Dudley, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Walsall, Stourbridge and Sandwell.

The winners will be those with the most points collected pro-rata to their pupil head-count. They will find out if they have won some of the cash at a ceremony at Wolverhampton's Civic Hall on February 17.

All schools attending will receive a cheque and a certificate marking their achievements with second and third place entrants receiving £5,000 each and the overall winner walking away with a cheque for £10,000.

During the six weeks, thousands of tokens worth millions of points were collected by pupils, staff, parents, neighbours and members of the community in the quest to receive a share of the £20,000 prize pot. They were tasked with collecting as many tokens as possible and their entry at the end of six weeks is the total points value of their tokens, divided by the number of pupils on the school register at the beginning of term.

The vouchers were printed every day in the Express & Star until November 13. Schools can spend the cash on anything they like, whether it be creating outdoor garden areas or running sports clubs.

Viv Birch, Express & Star promotions manager, said today: "We have been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of tokens collected. The top 15 schools will be very excited by who will finally win.

"We look forward to hearing how the winners will spend their cash."

The finalists are:

Bilston Nursery School Children's Centre, Wolverhampton Street

Broadmeadow Special School, Lansdowne Road, Wolverhampton

Bushbury Nursery School, Bushbury Lane, Bushbury

Cherry Trees Special Primary School, Giggetty Lane, Wombourne,

Green Park School, Green Park Avenue, Stowlawn, Bilston

Greenhall Nursery, Second Avenue, Stafford

Loxdale Primary School, Chapel Street, Bilston

Marshbrook First School, Teddesley Road, Penkridge

New Park School, Valley Park Campus, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton

Old Hall Community Special School, Bentley Lane, Walsall

Old Park School, Corbyn Road, Russells Hall, Dudley

Pens Meadow School, Brierley Hill Road, Wordsley, Stourbridge

Rowley View Nursery School, Dangerfield Lane, Wednesbury

St John's Primary, Wombourne Road, Dudley

Tettenhall Wood School, School Road, Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton