A year ago, Overstone Combined School, which serves over 250 pupils and is located near Grundfos’ head office in Leighton Buzzard, received a Community Engagement Grant from Grundfos’ majority owner, the Poul Due Jensen Foundation, along with voluntary support to refurbish many of its facilities. Colleagues from Grundfos, together with contractors, volunteered their time to upgrade the school facilities.
Ribbon cutting at Overstone Combined School’s renovated facilities: Glynn Williams, Managing Director for Grundfos UK, with pupils. Photo: Helen Roberts
Their efforts included refurbishing the changing rooms, transforming the staff rest area, installing new showers, and adding energy-efficient LED lighting, enhancements that improved the school’s carbon footprint and created a more welcoming environment for pupils.
Mrs Kirsty Eales, the Headteacher, said:
“Thanks to this donation, we’ve been able to upgrade the children’s changing rooms and transform the staff room with a new kitchen—creating a much-needed space for our team to relax. The children are thrilled with the new facilities, and we are deeply grateful to Grundfos for making this possible.”
Grundfos Enterprise Project
The team at Grundfos has extended their work with the school, with a long-term commitment called the ‘Grundfos Enterprise Project’. The project has already seen children from year six, visit Grundfos head office where they were given funding to start their own business, with the help of their teacher.
Pupils in front of Grundfos office in Leighton Buzzard. Photo: Helen Roberts
After great success running their business, the children were then able to donate over £600 to charities of their choice, including Cancer Research and to their local church roof fundraising – thus paying forward the goodwill.
Local Community Engagement
The next deadline for Community Engagement Grant applications is 9 January, 2026.