Soho Parish church

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THE legendary illustrator of The Gruffalo is backing supporters of a primary school ahead of a crunch meeting that could decide its future.

Axel Scheffler is holding a special assembly at Soho Parish CofE Primary School next week as he backs parents, businesses and landowners stepping up to save it from closure. The school – the only one in Soho – holds a unique place in the heart of the West End and its loss would be a devastating blow to a closely knit community that has long felt under threat from overdevelopment and corporate regeneration.

The group is confident they can meet a mid-January deadline, laid down by the city council, to prove Soho Parish can be “financially viable” for the next five years. It follows a drop-off in pupil numbers, which has affected central government funding, but campaigners say this can be reversed.

Alice MacDonnell, parent of a former pupil now working to support the school, said: “It is such a magical and unique place because of where it is situated. We have The Photographers’ Gallery, all the museums in the square mile, the theatres. It is really just full of creative people, and art is at the heart of the school. The Arts Council did a project there recently. We had the Soho Lights project with RIBA. You have lots of parents who work in film, the arts and production. But we have been told that we have until mid-January to prove that the school is financially viable for the next five years, otherwise it will close in September next year. That is the date given to us by Westminster Council.

“It’s completely shocking because once these schools are gone, they are gone. There aren’t state schools that are being built any more. This is the only school in Soho.

“The danger is people are whittled away until we can’t stand up for ourselves. The school is so important. Once that goes there won’t be a community any more.”

Ms MacDonnell said people were being too easily “fed a narrative” about birth rate statistics being behind declining admissions across London, including Westminster. The trend, which is directly linked to affordable housing for families, who often leave central London when children reach school age, has already been used as a reason to shut several schools across the capital. At Soho Parish, year groups have had to merge because of declining numbers, but supporters say that history shows that things can change.

Ms MacDonnell said: “The school has historically been for lots of different people, at times for people living-in and working in Soho, and also Chinatown parents. People have commuted in. There have been different waves of different people from all over. Over decades. The school has always taught Italian to the children, because of those roots in Soho, which is quite strange, as nowhere else does that.

She added: “We can get the numbers up and pay off the deficit.”

The group is looking to prove it can raise £200,000 per year for the next five years.

Businesses including Soho Estates, Shaftesbury, Soho House, and Soho Place theatre have already pledged help to find the cash. Businesses including the French House are adding optional £1 donations to bills for meals.

Ms MacDonnell’s great great grandfather was Henry Cole, the founder of the V&A and Royal Albert Hall, who is famous for sending the world’s first Christmas card. Mr Scheffler, who illustrated Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo best-seller, has been working on a book featuring Mr Cole, leading to his support for the school.

In August the executive headteacher of Soho Parish made a public appeal in the Soho Society newsletter: “We currently only have about two-thirds of the total number of children we have the space to educate and our funding is calculated on a ‘per child’ basis, so you can imagine the impact that has on an already tight budget,” wrote Alix Ascough.

More than a quarter of Westminster’s primary school places are empty and the council has warned of financial implications of falling pupil numbers.

The school is run by the Diocese of London who have not commented.